Oceanic High
by MsAdler583
Summary: The survivors of Oceanic 815 are about to face something even scarier than the smoke monster...high school.
1. Where Kate Goes

-1A/N: I do not own LOST. I didn't create LOST. I didn't write LOST. I'm not trying to steal LOST. Total ownership to Abrams, Lindelof, Cuse, Bender, Bad Robot, etc.

The door to the old classroom squeaked open as the principal walked in followed by a gawky girl. Mrs. Hawking, the teacher, stopped writing her equation on the board and turned to look at the two.

"Mrs. Hawking, this is a new student. Her name is Kate Austen. Kate, this is Mrs. Hawking."

Kate pushed a stringy curl out of her face and smiled weakly.

"Miss Austen, please take a seat behind Mr. Shephard."

Kate's eyes flashed from wall to wall trying to determine who Shephard was. A young boy with a crew cut nodded his head with a smile. The weak smile forced itself to grow and she walked to the desk and slid in, hoping the students would stop staring soon.

"I'm Jack," the boy in front of her whispered as he turned his head back.

"Kate," she said, "but you know that."

He smiled, causing his eyes to crinkle on the edges.

"Hm, fresh meat," a drawl came from the seat over.

Kate turned to see a young boy with shaggy blonde hair.

"Mr. Ford, do you have anything to say to the class?" Mrs. Hawking's stern British voice said.

"No, ma'am." Ford said sarcastically.

In front of her, Jack shook his head and started copying the equation on the board.

During the long and boring lecture on the probabilities of time travel, which in Kate's opinion had nothing to do with physics anyways, she couldn't resist the urge to steal a glance at the shaggy haired boy. He was staring right at her with a stupid grin. She flicked her eyes down to her notebook where she hadn't taken a single note. Instead she had doodled a picture of herself stuck in a jail cell named "Oceanic High School".

"That's quite a skill," Jack's voice interrupted her daydreaming.

Kate looked up and realized the bell had rung. All the other kids were pulling on their backpacks and leaving the classroom.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

"Have fun on your private tour, Jackie-boy," Ford joked as he left the class.

"What's his problem?" Kate asked.

"Sawyer?" Jack said with a smile, "Where to begin. Don't worry about him. If you want, I can help you find your next classroom. With you being new, wouldn't want you to get lost…" his voice trailed off as they stood awkwardly in the hall.

"Thanks," she said with that same stiff smile, "I think I can find it."

She walked away, pulling at the straps of her backpack. Jack watched for a few seconds before heading to math. As he leapt up the stairs, someone came to walk next to him. Jack turned to nod hi to Boone.

As the captain of the basketball team, Jack felt a little responsible for making sure the freshman team members were accepted.

"How's it going?" Boone asked with a smile.

"It's fine," Jack said, "How's your morning been?"

"It's good. Just waiting till fifth hour when we can get out for the pep rally."

Jack nodded, "Yeah, should be fun."

Boone enthusiastically slapped him on the back and headed down the hall to talk to someone else. Jack shook his head and turned the other way to reach his math class. He scanned the room before heading to his desk. Pulling out his notebook, he kept his eyes absently on the door.


	2. The Math

-1Charlie Pace walked in with his hood over his head.

"Mr. Pace, please remove the hood," Mr. Alpert said as he shuffled some papers on his desk.

Charlie sulked as he tugged on the hood. He quickly tried to move towards his seat in the back.

"And take out the iPod," Mr. Alpert continued without looking up.

"How does he do it…" Charlie mumbled as he walked up to Claire Littleton's desk.

"Ey," he said with a grin, "How's it goin' Claire?"

Claire looked up from her notebook and smiled politely, "Hey Charlie."

"What are you doin'?" he asked.

Her big blue eyes wandered down to the notebook on her desk, "Um," she started in her heavy Australian accent, "Just writing, you know. Thoughts and stuff."

"Right," Charlie said, making it sound like 'riot'.

The bell rang and all the kids made their way to their desks. Jack's eyes shifted from the open door to Mr. Alpert. He leaned against his desk and crossed his arms.

"Ok kids, since I'm not entirely sure any of you were even remotely listening to yesterday's lesson, today we're going to have a little quiz."

The entire class groaned and started shuffling their books and papers, trying to find a pencil.

"Don't worry, it only counts for ten points and if you were listening yesterday, you'll do just fine. Infinity theorems are fun," he said unenthusiastically.

He walked down each aisle, placing a small half sheet of paper on each desk. Jack scanned the quiz once before hunching over and writing his answers. The first question was easy, and Jack quickly wrote the answer, 48151623.42

Charlie looked around the room and watched Mr. Alpert's back before stretching himself around Claire's shoulder to see what she was writing. Claire could practically hear Charlie breathing in her ear. In defiance, she wrote, '48151623.32' on her first blank.

"Charlie," Mr. Alpert said from the front of the class.

He looked up in innocence, "Wot?"

"Come here please," Mr. Alpert rubbed his hand over his forehead and down his left eye.

Charlie moved around the desks and walked up to the front, conscious of everyone's eyes on him. He couldn't deny a slight spark of pleasure knowing everyone was watching him. Standing in front of the desk, Charlie looked right into the dark eyes of his teacher.

"Listen, you know I know, so why don't you just go to the principal now and save us both trouble. Ok?"

Rolling his eyes, Charlie walked back to grab his stuff before heading for the door. As he left the room, Claire looked down at her paper and began erasing her false numbers.

Charlie made his way down the hall, reaching in his pocket for his iPod. He was already going to the principal's office, what else could they do? He slid the buds into his ears and turned on the music.

"_You all everybody,_" he said quietly in a high falsetto as he walked down the hall imagining himself on a stage, playing the electric guitar and listening to the girls scream his name.

Of course he would never tell anyone his dreams of becoming a rock god, let alone his dreams of just being in a band at all. He had bought his own guitar and taught himself the chords. Lost in his own little fantasy, he didn't realize he was already at the principal's office and ran right into him as he was leaving.

"Charlie," he said, grabbing a hold of his shoulders, "I have to go talk to someone. Please take a seat and we'll talk about why you made the decision to cheat when I get back."

Charlie glared at him in annoyance. Had Mr. Alpert seriously called down here to tell him what he did? As the principal walked down the hallway with his hands in his pockets, Charlie shuffled into the little waiting area. He plopped himself in one of the stiff chairs.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. What are you in for Jiminy Cricket?"

Charlie looked over at Sawyer, "Sod off," he growled.

Sawyer laughed, "I'm just askin' half pint. Don't be so touchy."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Charlie asked.

"Ol' Arzty Fartzy sent me here for hiding his glasses."

"You hid his glasses?"

"Yeah," Sawyer said defensively.

"What are you, two?"

"Get lost," he said, raising his voice.

"Boys, please," the secretary said, leaning around the corner of the door.

They settled into a disgruntled silence, each glaring at the other. After a few minutes the principal returned.

"James, please return to class. You can begin your detention next week, before school starts."

"Detention?" he said scrunching his face in shock.

"That last part was a joke, James. You can go back to class now. Charlie, would you mind stepping in for a minute?"

Sawyer pulled up on his jeans before heading for the door, "Adios amigo," he drawled before heading back down the hall.

Charlie stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets and sat down in the chair across from the desk. The desk was very neat and organized. Charlie's gaze fell upon a little ship in a bottle that was sitting on the principal's desk.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

Charlie looked up and nodded, "It's nice."

"My brother made it for me," he said with a smile. "Now, Charlie, let's talk about you. Would you like to tell me why you were cheating off of Claire's paper?"

Charlie's eyes wandered, trying to determine if it was better to tell the truth or not.

"I don't know."

The principal's smile got even bigger, "You do know, Charlie. Wouldn't you be more proud of your own work knowing it's your work? Even if you were to steal her answers and they were right, you wouldn't have that pride of being able to do it yourself. Does that make sense Charlie?"

He nodded.

"Ok. I don't see any reason to give you anything more than a warning. This won't happen again."

Charlie stood up.

"And Charlie?"

"Yes?" he said quietly.

"The iPod is against the rules too. Don't let me catch you with it again."

"Right," he said as he stood by the door.

"You're capable of more than you think, Charlie. I wish you would realize that."

The secretary walked up to the door and leaned her head in, "Jacob, you have a call on the line,"

"Thank you," he said with a smile as he picked up the phone.

Charlie watched him grab the phone and nod before heading out the door. He glanced up at the clock and saw that he only had about ten minutes left of class. Making his way down to the band room, he sat on one of the benches and pulled out his iPod, raising the hood on his jacket.


	3. All the Best Rabbits have Leading Issues

-1Eventually the bell rang and he began walking down the wide hall to the band room where other kids had filed out. He saw the captain of the cheerleading squad standing by the door of the drama room, waiting for someone.

"Hi, Shannon," Charlie said with a nod of his head.

Shannon tilted her head and smiled at the little guy with the accent wondering who he was. She shifted her books to the other side.

"What are you doing?" Boone said as he appeared next to her.

"Waiting for my friend," she said in a huff as she began walking.

"Where are you going?" he began following her.

"To class, dummy, where else would I be going?"

Boone stopped following her and let her do her own thing. There was no talking to her anyhow.

Shannon kept walking wondering why Sayid didn't show up. He made such a big deal about carrying her books yesterday that she thought he would be there again today. She pushed away the knot that made her wonder why she didn't want Sayid to meet Boone in the hallway. Hurrying up the half set of stairs and around the corner, she hoped wouldn't be late. She could usually talk her way out of tardies with Mr. Linus, but his patience was running thin the later the semester got.

She slipped into the door seconds before the bell rang. Shooting a glance to Mr. Linus, she saw him look at her with raised eyebrows, but didn't say anything. A new girl was sitting next to her and she glanced her over to see if she offered any real competition. Shannon couldn't help but notice Jack staring her down.

Kate felt all eyes on her, but thought maybe it was her imagination.

"Miss Austen?" Mr. Linus called from his desk.

Kate looked up just in time to see her new teacher crawl under the desk. She drew her eyebrows in confusion as she made her way up to the desk to see if he was okay.

"Mr. Linus?" she asked leaning over the desk.

"What?" he said with a small laugh as he crawled back from under the desk with a book in his hands.

"I'm sorry," he smiled nervously as he adjusted the wireframe glasses on his face. "I was getting you a copy of the novel we're working on now. I don't expect you to know it all yet, but you will need to catch up as soon as you can."

Kate looked down at the worn copy of _Watership Down._

"Rabbits?" she asked.

Mr. Linus looked up from writing down the book number 51 on his log, "Hm?"

"The book, it's about rabbits."

"I like rabbits," Mr. Linus said with a vigorous nod of his head, "but it's not really about rabbits. It's an allegory. For politics, religion, fate and destiny. Which we will all learn about in class."

He motioned his arm out towards the other kids that were getting louder without being watched.

Kate turned on her heels and headed back to her seat. Jack smiled at her, but busied himself in pulling out his own copy.

"Class," Mr. Linus called out, "I would like to continue discussing the reading we did yesterday. Would anyone like to open the discussion on what the idea of Hazel being the epic hero? What is it about Hazel that makes him earn the loyalty and trust in the other rabbits?"

Mr. Linus stared at the room of blank faces, searching for someone to give an answer.

"Don't all jump at once," he said sarcastically.

"Maybe it's his need to see the good in everyone," Kate said firmly.

Some of the other kids turned to look at her. She kept her eyes fixed on Mr. Linus.

"Good," he said, "why would his need to see good in everyone make him the leader?"

"Because they trust him," Sawyer drawled from the back.

Kate turned to look at him with surprise. She hadn't noticed him when she walked in.

"And trust breeds a good leader?" Mr. Linus prompted.

"Maybe a good leader breeds trust," Sawyer countered.

Mr. Linus nodded, "Very interesting. Does anyone disagree with that?" he asked.

He noticed Jack shake his head slightly. It was enough for him to take as a hint.

"Jack, do you have something to add?"

Jack looked up from his book, "It's his self sacrifice. Hazel is willing to sacrifice everything for the warren. That's what forces him to be a leader. The others just follow," he paused, "because they're rabbits."

A few of the kids laughed.

"While your attempt at humor is appreciated, Mr. Shepherd, let us stick to the themes in the story, shall we? If no one has anything else to add, let's turn to page 23 in the second paragraph…"

Sawyer was looking down at his book when a little slip of paper slid into his view. He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it under the top of the desk. Opening it, it read: _A good leader breeds trust? Since when do you study literature? _The note scribble was followed by a smiley face. Trying to keep the grin from his face, Sawyer took his pencil and wrote: _Since when do you care what I study, Blondie? _

He folded the paper and looked up to make sure Mr. Linus wasn't looking. His eyes flashed over to Juliet who had her book up to her face in one hand and the corner of the desk in the other. Behind the book he could see a smile. He slid the paper over to her desk and she slipped it behind the cover.

Sawyer turned back to the words on the page but couldn't seem to focus on them. They blurred in his mind. He felt the paper tap against his skin and he pulled it under the cover of the desk.

_Ever since you started studying the new girl…_ it read. Sawyer had to keep from letting a sarcastic laugh fly out of his mouth. Juliet remained nonchalant behind the guise of her book. Mr. Linus's voice continued his high pitched reading of the story as he examined a quote from the text.

Setting the scrap of paper on the desk, Sawyer tried to think of a snappy one liner to throw back at her. Instead he wrote: _She's not my type. Gentlemen prefer blondes._ He passed it to her quickly and a small giggle burst out of her mouth. She quickly turned it into a cough and only the quiet Korean guy, Jin, turned to look at her. Jin returned his focus to the book, though he was completely lost as to where they were. He tried to follow along, but once the teacher began talking as fast as he did, he was hopeless. Looking up at the clock he began counting down the minutes until lunch.


	4. Whatever the Caf May Be

-1Eventually the lunch bell came and all the kids started moving around to head to the lunch room.

"Remember," Mr. Linus called out, "You have to read thirty pages this weekend. I know there is a basketball game, but you should still be reading," he finished, talking to himself more than anyone else.

Jack pushed his backpack on his back and almost ran into Mr. Alpert as he walked into Mr. Linus's room to talk.

"Excuse me Jack," he said with a smile.

Jack followed a crowd of kids down to the lunch room. He was going to offer Kate a place to sit by him but she was no where to be found. Entering the cafeteria, Jack headed straight for the shortest line.

He shifted his backpack behind him and the girl in front turned to see who it was.

"Jack," she said with a smile.

"Hey Sun," he nodded.

"How are you doing?" she asked, her accent heavy.

"I'm doing all right. How are you?"

She smiled, "I am good. I've been meaning to ask you a favor."

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked down at her, "Sure, what can I do?"

"I know you have a class with Jin, Jin Kwon? Is there a way to find out if he's asked anyone to prom?"

Jack laughed, causing his eyes to crinkle, "I can try. I don't really talk to him though. I don't think he likes me."

"Everybody likes you," she teased, "Please, if you could."

He nodded, "Yeah, sure, I'll try."

"Thanks Jack."

"Dude, you're holding up the line," someone said behind him.

Jack turned to see a large kid with lots of curly hair. He put his hand on Sun's shoulder and gently made her move forward.

"Sorry," Jack said as he turned around to face the kid.

"No, man, it's just been one of those days is all."

Jack debated whether or not to say anything to the guy.

"Jack," he said with a smile.

"Hugo," the other guy said, "but most everyone calls me Hurley."

"Alright, Hurley," he said with a nod, "What made it one of those days?"

"The bus was late. I don't have a car. I didn't know we were taking a test in Biology. And coming out of the bathroom I ran into…someone I didn't want to run into. I don't have the best of luck."

"That's too bad," Jack said. "Who knows, Hurley, maybe your luck will change."

"I wouldn't count on it, dude."

Jack turned around and Sun had moved down to get in another line. Instead, Juliet was standing there holding something out to him.

"Cheeseburger?" she asked.

"Looks good," he said with a smile, "but I think you just cut the line."

"She left, so think of it more as a replacement," she tilted her head and her blonde hair fell across her face.

"It's not me I'm concerned about," he said as he took the paper wrapped burger and put it on his tray. "Thank you," he said quickly to the lunch lady.

He followed behind Juliet in small steps as they got closer to the register. She stood facing him, walking slowly backwards.

"I heard you were applying to UCLA."

He looked around sheepishly, "Where did you hear that?"

"Around."

"Okay…" he started.

"So, is it true? Are you?"

He nodded, "Yeah, sure it is."

"You already got accepted to Columbia, why do you have to steal UCLA too? Good luck," she said enthusiastically. "Hopefully my admissions interview won't be right after yours."

"Is that a challenge?" he asked with a smile.

"You can count on it."

"Well, good luck to you too. I'm sure you'll get in."

"Thanks."

They reached the cash register and the lady stood waiting. Juliet paid for her food and turned to Jack one last time.

"See ya in a little bit Jack."

"Bye," he said as he pulled out his I.D. card.

When he grabbed his tray he looked at Hurley for a few seconds.

"Later, dude." he said while scooting his tray forward.

Jack nodded and moved into the cafeteria. He scanned the room for a good table. He hated the feeling of always having to sit with a certain group of people or being expected to sit at a certain place. He moved to an empty table by the door. Unwrapping his burger, he didn't notice when someone walked up.

"Can I sit here?" Kate asked.

He looked up with a smile and nodded, "Sure."

"Thanks," she smiled too and it seemed genuine this time.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about this boy that made him seem different than the others. Maybe it was because he seemed so serious. Whatever it was, she liked his no nonsense attitude.

"So, what's your story?" he asked.

"My what?"

He took a bite of the cheeseburger, "Your story. Everyone's got one."

"Right," she said as she raised a piece of fruit to her mouth.

Boone appeared from nowhere, "Hey Jack, can I sit here?"

"Yeah," he nodded, pulling his backpack to the ground to make room.

"I'm Boone," he said to Kate.

"Kate," she said with a little wave of her hand.

"Aren't you eating?" he asked her.

She raised another piece of her fruit, "I am."

"You're eating fruit. You need some real food."

"Fruit is real food," she countered. "I'm a vegetarian."

"Oh yeah?" Jack asked, seemingly interested.

She nodded. As Jack and Boone began talking about the basketball game, Kate's eyes wandered to a table where Sawyer was sitting by himself. He looked over and noticed her staring. When her eyes flashed back to Jack, he was watching her.

"Did he give you a nickname yet?" Jack asked.

"Who?"

Jack laughed lightly between bites, "The guy you were staring at, Kate."

"I was just-" when she looked back over at the table, a skinny blonde girl had sat with him. Kate thought she recognized her from their English class.

"That's Juliet."

"Are they dating?"

"I don't know," he shook his head. "I think she's just the only person who can stand to be with him more than ten minutes."

Boone laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Shannon asked as she walked up with a bottle of water.

"Your hair," Boone countered.

Kate looked up as the cheerleader sat down.

"This is Shannon, my sister," Boone said in a deadpan voice.

"I apologize for my brother," she said sarcastically as she sat down, "Hi, Jack."

He nodded as he finished his burger.

"What's your next class?" Jack asked.

"Art,"

"Me too," Shannon said.

Boone joined the discussion of art class as Jack noticed Hurley walking to a table where Charlie Pace sat. They started talking and Jack wondered why he never knew who Hurley was before.

"Sayid!" Shannon called out.

Sayid walked up to the table. His long, curly, black hair was tied up in a ponytail.

"Hey Shannon," he said in greeting as he stood awkwardly at the table.

Kate noticed Boone stiffen his posture as he looked up at Sayid. Kate smiled and nodded in greeting, but wasn't sure if she should introduce herself. Jack nodded too and she thought maybe he didn't know him that well.

"Sit with us," Shannon asked.

"I'm sorry," he said nicely, "I can't. I'm supposed to go work on a project."

Kate could tell when people were lying, and Sayid was definitely lying. Shannon blew it off and told him to have fun before turning back to the group. Jack hid his face as he opened a bag of chips, trying not to get involved.

Two cheerleaders came and sat next to Shannon, which immediately occupied Boone's attention.

"You never told me your story," Jack said with a smile in his eyes.

"What's yours?" she asked, finishing her lunch.

"Mine's not that interesting. I was born and raised here. After graduation I'm going to college for pre-med and then off to med school. No brothers or sisters. Dad's a surgeon. I'll follow in his footsteps. That's about it."

"I don't have any brothers or sisters either," Kate said with a laugh.

"Where did you move from?" he asked.

"Iowa," she said firmly.

"Where in Iowa?"

"Why all the questions?"

He laughed, "That's how you get to know people. I won't ask questions if you don't want to answer."

She looked down in her lap, "Sorry, I just-"

The bell interrupted her and kids began shuffling around to gather their things.

"Guess we'll leave the mystery of Kate Austen for another time," he said. "I'm in Biology, so, I'll see you later, I guess."

"Yeah," she said as she pulled her long hair from her backpack, "I'll see you later."

Jack said his goodbyes to Boone and the other girls as Kate slipped back towards the door. She had memorized the school already and knew where to go for her art class. The school wasn't nearly as big as the one she came from which made it easier to navigate.


	5. Arts and Minds

-1She walked into the room and saw rows of huge black tables with two seats to a table. She made her way up to the teachers desk. He was stuffing the remnants of his lunch into the trash.

"I'm Katherine Austen…the new girl."

He looked down at his book, "Austen, yes, Katherine, nice to meet you. I'm Mr. Friendly."

Kate tried to keep the smile from spreading too far on her face.

"You'll have to take the seat on the third table on the left. Sorry."

As she made her way to her seat she wondered why he said he was sorry.

"Howdy, Freckles."

She looked up to see Sawyer. So that was why.

"Looks like we'll be drawin' together. I can be your model if you like." he smiled a big goofy grin.

Kate raised an eyebrow, "I'm not into that kind of art."

"Ooh," he countered, "Feisty."

Mr. Friendly began giving instructions on where the paints were located and what type of shading they were supposed to achieve.

"Why are you in here? You really like art?" she asked.

"You'd be surprised at what I like," he whispered back.

The other kids began moving to get paint and Kate left the table to get away from Sawyer. She wondered what Juliet thought of his attitude. He leaned back in the chair and pulled out a piece of gum.

Kate reached for the blue right at the same time as a small blonde haired girl.

"Oh, sorry," she said in an Australian accent.

"No, it's okay," Kate said quickly.

"Are you the new girl?"

Kate nodded, "That would be me."

"Oh, yeah. I heard people talking about you," she stopped when she saw Kate give her a funny look, "Oh, I don't mean talk about you like, talk about you, I just mean…Sorry. I just heard you were here is all. Name's Claire, by the way."

The little Australian smiled like a doll before heading back to her table. Kate arranged the other colors on her plastic plate and moved back to her table. Sawyer had begun sketching out a landscape on his notepad. The drawing wasn't that bad.

Sawyer considered himself a chameleon and art was no exception. All one ever had to do was mimic the background around them; this was something Sawyer was good at. Though he often posed as the loner, he could read people like a book and knew, most of the time, what their motives were and where their minds would be next. That's what made manipulation so easy. He almost felt bad for the idiots who walked in the same pattern every time. Almost.

"Nice picture there Picasso," he said sweetly. "Looks like you're holding out on us."

Kate looked up from her tropical ocean scene she just started.

"You don't know anything about me," she said firmly.

"Sure I do," he countered, setting his pencil on the table, "Transfer, moves a lot, mistrustful, born to run. I know the type."

Kate stared at him with large brown eyes mixing with anger and interest. Her curls fell in her face as she pulled her head down to her paper.

"See?" he said quietly, "I know the type."

"I am not a type." she mumbled.

Claire looked back at the new girl flirting with Sawyer. Of course she would be here a day and already have his attention. There was no denying he was the cutest guy in school. He had never given her any glance more meaningful than the one he gave every girl with a chest and a butt. He certainly didn't look at her like Charlie did. She smiled at the thought of Charlie who tried so hard, usually a little too hard, to get her attention. She was feeling a little sick to her stomach and went to the front of the room to ask Mr. Friendly if she could run to the bathroom. He said yes, of course, and she made her way out of the room and down the hall.

After she went to the bathroom, she stood at the sink washing her hands and staring at her face in the mirror. Too many thoughts were running through her head at the same time. The stall door behind her opened and a blonde girl came out and began washing her hands. Claire gripped the sides of the sink.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

The girl looked down at her and nodded, "Okay."

The other girl left the bathroom and headed back to her classroom. Her hand slid along the shiny red lockers as she walked past. Reaching her class, she opened the door and moved to the back where her lab partner was waiting.


	6. Every Cat for Himself

-1"Has he started yet?"

"Are you kidding?" Jack whispered. "He hasn't even let us get our specimens. We'll be lucky to even get started on the nerves today."

Juliet snickered, "Calm down."

"If you don't know what you're doing, just stop. Though I shouldn't have to remind you every day: these are sharp objects, not toys. Not. Toys," Arzt emphasized.

Juliet looked over to the pile of trays where their partially dissected cats were resting in stiff deathly bliss. Juliet's favorite part of class was watching Jack's faces as Arzt gave his lecture on the dangers of biology. Finally, they were released to get their cats. Juliet walked over to get theirs as Jack left to grab gloves, aprons and all the tools.

As Jack picked up the tray of tools, he couldn't help but feeling like it was right. He struggled for a long time with the decision to be a doctor, just like his father, but he felt his best when he was trying to help people and solve the medical mysteries. Plus, it was kind of cool.

Back at the table, Juliet picked up the plastic bag and examined for mold. When Jack brought back the supplies, she pulled on her gloves and opened the bag. The smell of formaldehyde hit her right on, but she didn't flinch. It really annoyed her when the girls acted like it was the grossest thing ever to pick up a dead cat. Please.

Jack smiled as he flipped the cat over and ran the scalpel under the shoulder blades.

"What did you do?" Arzt cried in front of them.

"I'm cutting into the spinal column to identify the vertebrae. And we're getting the extra credit for removing the brain."

"Stop, stop, stop," he said petulantly.

Jack sighed and set down the scalpel with a clank.

"What do you think you're a doctor? Do you even know what you're doing?"

Juliet tried to hide her smile.

"We're following the instructions on the diagramed and labeled textbook we have sitting in front of us," Jack said sharply.

"We'll see when you remove the fragments of brain. You only get extra credit if its intact."

He moved away to harass the other students and Juliet pulled back the skin so Jack could get a better cut.

"Can you believe him?" he asked.

"He is the teacher," she reasoned.

"He knows we both want to go into med school, I think he's punishing us for doing something he never did."

"You don't know that," she said dryly as she slowly pulled the tissue away from the spinal cord.

Jack looked at the spray of nerves branching out from the little string protected behind the vertebrae.

"Dammit," he whispered when he tore the thin membrane connecting the spinal cord to the brain stem.

"Don't worry," Juliet said leaning against his shoulder, "As long as we can get the brain out."

"Oh, we'll get the brain out," he said firmly.

After fifteen minutes and a position change, Juliet and Jack managed to remove the entire brain of the little cat. As they bent over the desk to write some answers on their handout, Juliet caught the glance of another girl. She didn't know Sarah, but she seemed to get a lot of dirty looks from her. She imagined it was due to the fact that Jack had specifically sought her out as a lab partner. There was no denying he was the star of the show. Something inside couldn't bring her to tell Sarah there was nothing going on between them. She wouldn't mind dating Jack if he were to ever ask, but she knew he wouldn't ask. Besides, the way she saw him look at the new girl today, she figured it was only a matter of time before he asked her out.

"Alright," he said with a grin.

They had just enough time to clean the cat and put it back in the bag before the bell was about the ring.

"You got any big plans this weekend?" Jack asked absentmindedly as he wiped down the table.

"Oh, you know, curing cancer, ending world hunger and studying for my math test. The usual."

Jack laughed lightly and looked at her as though he wanted to ask something.

"What are you doing?" she said quickly.

"Studying, mainly."

They were quiet as they finished cleaning up. When the bell rang they grabbed their stuff and headed for the door.

"See you at the pep rally, I guess."

"Yeah," he said with a nod.

She turned to walk off, pulling her blonde hair into a ponytail.

"Juliet, wait," he said trotting after her, "Are you seeing Sawyer?"

She seemed surprised by the question, "No, I'm not."

"Would you ever want to," he started.

"I'm free after the basketball game."

He smiled, his eyes getting smaller, "Ok. Good. See you later."

She turned and walked away with a smile on her face. Jack began walking towards the gym. Those that were on the basketball team were dismissed early from class. He was glad because he couldn't get the hang of the future perfect tense in French and Ms. Rousseau had threatened to have a quiz. At least this way he would have a chance to study over the weekend.

He pushed his mind away from thoughts of Juliet. As he walked he tried not to think about what made him ask her if she was free. He guessed it answered the question of whether or not she was dating Sawyer. Kate would be pleased to know.


	7. Maternity Heave

-1In the gym, all the cheerleaders and basketball players were getting ready for the pep rally. Members of the band were assembling on the rafters and tuning their instruments. The whole thing seemed so silly. The rally seemed so insignificant with the world going on around them.

Jack stood in the entrance to the basketball court watching all the kids hug each other and joke around. Coach Locke walked in and Boone ran to greet him. He just wanted to get the whole thing over with. It seemed silly anyways. There was no way they could win against Ajira High anyways. The boys were instructed to change into their Oceanic shirts and Jack made his way back to the gym to change.

Eventually, classes began to filter in and the boys were waiting in the hall doing their group pep talk. As the captain of the team, Jack started.

"Okay, guys, we know that tomorrow we go against Ajira, and we know they are stronger and bigger, but we can win. That game is ours to take. If we all work together we can win. If we don't stay as one, we will lose," he stopped.

Locke gave him a stern look before butting in, "Boys, it doesn't matter if they are bigger or stronger. We are faster and better. There is no question that we will win that game tomorrow. Let's go out and have some fun for everyone okay? One, two, three Oceanic!"

The boys all raised their hands before walking towards the back door. They would be introduced one by one. As the captain, Jack would be first.

"Jack," Locke said, guiding him by the shoulder.

"What?"

"What was that?" Locke asked. "You've got to encourage them. Give them hope. If they expect defeat, that's what they'll get."

"Coach, I'm not going to tell them we're going to win because it is likely we won't win. That's not right to build them up just to be crushed."

"You're building them up so they will win. You've got to have faith that they'll succeed."

Jack laughed, "It's not faith, Locke, it's skill. Our guys don't have the skill that Ajira has. They beat us every year."

"All the more reason to give them hope," he said quietly.

Jack stopped talking and nodded, knowing he wasn't getting anywhere.

"Get ready, you're first." Locke said with a slap on the back.

"Good luck, Jack," one of his teammates said.

"Thanks, Marshall," he said with a smile before heading onto the court.

"Jack Shephard!"

He ran onto the court and waved before standing off to the side. He scanned the crowd when the second name was called and knew most of the people there. It was a small school and most of them had grown up together. As the last game of the season, Jack knew this would be the last time he stood on the court for a pep rally. While it made him nervous to think about leaving home and starting life in the real world, he was also excited. He was dreading the senior salute part where they would show pictures of his grade school years.

Once the team was on the floor, the cheerleaders pulled members of the crowd to do a game. The mascot went first. Jack didn't know who was inside the massive polar bear costume, but they ended up falling on their face causing the crowd to roar with laughter.

When the senior salute section came, Jack and three other team members walked up to the front while pictures of past games and school events showed above them. He had always wondered what the phrase "flash before your eyes" meant but he wondered now if he knew. As the crowd clapped for him, he saw the faces of Juliet, Charlie, Sawyer, Hurley, Boone and other friends he didn't know that well. It was time for the band to play so the guys moved to the side. A lump grew in the back of Jack's throat and he made his way out of the gym to get some air.

As he walked out, he saw Claire leaning with one hand propping her against the cinderblock wall.

"Claire?" he asked walking towards her, "Are you alright?"

She began to fall down the wall and wobbled to the ground. Jack broke into a run.

"Claire," he cried, "Claire, can you hear me?"

He pulled her up into a sitting position and leaned down to hear if she was breathing. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Come on, you need to get to the nurse."

"No, I'm fine." she insisted.

"Claire you just passed out. Come on, you need to go to the nurse."

"It's nothing," she tried to pull herself away from him.

"But just in case it is," he said firmly, "I really think you should go see the nurse."

"I can't," she whispered, shaking her head.

"What? What's wrong?"

Her blue eyes looked up into Jack's, "I'm pregnant," she said finally.

"What?" he said, concerned, "Come on, I _really_ think you should go see the nurse now."

"No," she demanded as Jack pulled her to her feet. "He can't know. No one can know."

"What's going on here?" Mr. Alpert's voice came from down the hall.

"Everything's fine, Mr. Alpert, Claire was feeling pretty nauseous and I was going to help her to the nurse."

"Okay," he said with his hands on his hips, "Okay. Yeah."

As Jack practically pulled Claire down the hallway, he looked back to see Mr. Alpert standing there watching them and Kate's face peeking around the door to the gym.

"Jack, please, you can just let me walk from here."

"Are you sure you can walk?"

"Yes," she said defiantly, "I just got dizzy, that's all."

They walked down the hall, his hand still holding her wrist.

"They're going to know eventually," he said quietly.

"I know," she said, her voice filling with tears.

Jack stopped walking, "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

He nodded and guided her along by the wrist. He had always felt a little protective of Claire because she was an outsider and so little. Her arm felt so fragile in his hands.

"Can you make it up the stairs?" he asked.

She laughed, "I'm not going into labor here."

"I know," he chuckled, "I just don't want you to faint or anything."

They made their way to the nurses office and he lead her inside.

"Mr. Rom," he said, "Claire is feeling really faint, so I wanted to make sure she was safe."

"Well, aren't you a nice guy," Ethan said with a smile, "I'm sure she'll be just fine. Claire why don't you sit up here and tell me what's been happening lately. Was it something you ate?"

Claire moved up to sit on the little papered bench as Ethan turned to Jack.

"You can go back to the pep rally Mr. Shephard."

"Right," Jack said as he looked to Claire.

She gave him an assuring smile and nod. Turning to go back to the gym, he felt a sting of guilt. Maybe he should wait there with her. If something were to happen, he could be there to help. But he knew nothing would happen with Mr. Rom right there watching her. As he walked back to the stairs he saw the principal standing in the door of his office.

By the time Jack got back to the gym, most of the enthusiasm was gone and the kids were waiting for the bell to ring. As it did, they began rushing out to start their weekend. A few of the teachers were trying to manage crowd control, but it was practically impossible. Mr. Alpert leaned against the wall and let the kids leave as they wanted to.

"Alright boys," Locke called out, "You've got ten minutes before practice starts. You better be ready."

Jack nodded and started down the hall. He was going to grab a snack from the vending machine. On the way, he saw Jin trying to explain something to Michael, but it was obvious they were lost in translation. He remembered his promise to Sun and walked over.

"I don't know what you're saying, man."

Jin tried again and pointed to his watch.

"What time is it?"

"He likes your watch," Jack said plainly.

Jin nodded and pointed to Jack.

"Oh, thanks. It was given to me. Gift," he said loudly.

As Jin nodded, Michael called out to a friend passing by but the friend didn't hear him.

"Hey," he shouted, "Walt!"

He hurried after him and Jack turned to Jin, "I have a question."

"Ok," he nodded.

"Are you taking anyone to prom?" he asked flat out, knowing there was no easy way to skirt around the subject.

Jin drew back as though wondering if Jack was asking.

"Not me," Jack said, raising his hands to his chest, "Are you taking a girl to prom?"

Jin shook his head, "No."

"You should ask Sun," he said with a smile as he patted him on the back.

Before he could say anything in return he continued his walk. As he reached the vending machine he noticed Kate hurrying for the entrance. He almost called out to her to see how her day went, but she was moving too fast.

Pulling out his wallet, he unfolded a dollar and shoved it in. The Apollo bar made it half way before stopping.

"Dammit," he whispered.

He pushed against it slightly, hoping not to draw any attention to himself.

"I think you should reconsider." a voice said behind him.

Jack turned around to face the principal.

"I'm sorry," he said with a shake of his head, "it took my dollar and I just wanted the candy bar."

Jacob smiled, "And you thought damaging school property would be a good idea?"

Jack looked at him and didn't say anything.

"I know your intentions were pure, Jack. Things don't always work out though, no matter how hard you try."

"Thank you. It won't happen again."

Jack started to walk away, but Jacob interrupted him, "Where do you think you're going?"

"It's just a candy bar," he said sheepishly.

Jacob bent over and lifted the plastic flap. He pulled out an Apollo bar. Smiling, he moved over to Jack, clasping his hand on his shoulder.

"Sometimes, though, things are worth fighting for. Life has a funny way of doing that."

Puzzled, Jack gave him a funny look before taking the candy.

"Thank you," he said with a nod.

"Good luck Jack."

He walked away from the machine, confused about what just happened. He heard someone call his name and turned to see Claire walking towards him.

"Jack!" Claire called as she walked over to him.

"Are you alright?" he said quietly.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Please, please, don't say anything to anyone."

Jack shook his head, "I won't. I promise."

She looked as though she was going to cry.

"Hey," he touched her arm, "everything's going to be okay."

"You think so?" she asked softly.

"Yes. I do."

She smiled at him as though she believed him. He thought about what Locke said. While this seemed like false hope to him, Claire seemed to want to hear it anyways.

"If you ever want to talk,"

"I know. Thanks."

Moving towards the door, she left the school with the blinding sun streaming through. When Jack turned back around, Charlie was watching him.

"Hi Charlie," Jack said as he started walking towards the gym.

"What was that?" Charlie asked, angry.

"What was what?"

"That," Charlie demanded. "The dreamy eyed stare. I know it when I see it."

Jack laughed, "Charlie, I think you've got the wrong idea here."

"Don't laugh at me. You're always blowing everyone else off because we aren't as smart or as popular as you are."

Jack rubbed his hand against his eye and looked down at Charlie.

"Listen, Charlie, I'm not interested in Claire. Okay?"

He started to walk away again. Charlie began following him.

"Look, here you go again, just walking away. I'm not worth sitting and talking to?"

Jack stopped, "That's not true. You are upset, I get that. I just don't think you should be."

Charlie looked at him closely as though trying to understand if he was telling the truth.

Jack put his hands on his hips, leaning his head down to look Charlie in the eye.

"I'm not going after Claire," he shook his head, "Why don't you tell Claire you care about her? Maybe she could use a friend right now."

"I've got to go," Charlie said angrily as he walked away.

Jack turned back towards the gym. When he got inside, the guys had already begun running. Locke turned to see him come in.

"Nice of you to join us Jack."

"I'm sorry," he said walking towards him, "I got caught up."

Locke looked at him and nodded his head towards the other guys. Jack turned and ran to the pack. Locke wondered what made him think he could do what he wanted just because he wanted to. After the pep talk to the team, Locke was beginning to question his choice of team captain. He wasn't sure Jack had what it took.

The thing that made him chose him in the first place was his tenacity. A challenge only made Jack fight that much harder. His lack of faith, in himself and in others is what made Locke think it would take something like this to see how much he needed everyone else.


	8. What Happens Happens

-1Practice didn't last long. Locke just wanted to make sure the guys had the confidence they needed to win the game. He sent them to the showers and walked to the door. One by one the students came back with their big duffle bags. Locke watched them leave and told them to get some rest.

"See you tomorrow, coach," Boone said.

"Will do, Boone."

"We're gonna win," he said with a crooked smile.

Locke smiled back, "That's right. We are."

Jack was walking behind him and furrowed his brow at their exchange.

"Jack," Locke called.

He began walking towards Locke, his bag slung over his shoulder.

"I saw you grimace," he said casually.

Jack laughed lightly and shook his head, "It wasn't a grimace, Locke."

"I don't know why it's so hard for you to believe we're going to win."

"I don't know why it's so easy for you," he said with a shocked look on his face.

"A cynical way is no-"

Jack interrupted him, "It's not cynical, coach, it's realistic. The sooner we accept reality the sooner we figure out how to deal with that."

"And you don't think faith has anything to do with that?"

"No," he said, "I don't."

Locke moved toward the door, "You will. You just don't know it yet."

Outside the air was cool, but warm. The other team members were going towards their cars, but Jack headed over to the school stadium. After practice he often enjoyed running the steps to clear his head. He began in a sprint as he hopped from step to step. When he reached the top, he began the trek back down before running to the next section. As he began his ascension, he noticed someone was running behind him. He stopped and looked to see who it was. Usually the other students were gone by this time.

As he watched, the figure fell to the ground as he tripped over a step. Jack rushed back down to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Are you okay?" he called as he ran up to him.

"Yeah, brother, I just fell. I'm fine." he looked up with a smile.

The man looked older than a high school student and his smile made Jack a little uncomfortable.

"Have I met you before?" he asked.

The man laughed, "I doubt it. Unless you've seen me running here."

Jack shook his head, "No, I don't think so."

"Maybe I've just got one of those faces," he said.

"Maybe so," Jack countered.

"Name's Desmond."

"Jack." he stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you Jack."

"What are you doing out here?" Jack asked.

Desmond smiled, "Running, just like you."

Jack nodded, "Right."

"What were you thinking about?" he asked.

"What?"

"While you were running," Desmond explained, "You were thinking about something. Something important. I was just asking what it was."

"Do you think everything happens for a reason?" Jack asked suddenly.

"Yeah, brother, I do."

"Of course you do." Jack laughed.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded, "Yeah, everything's fine. Listen, do you need some help with your foot?"

"No," he stood up, "But I'm done for the day I guess. Got to go keep it elevated. Good luck, Jack, with whatever it was you were thinking about."

"Good luck with your foot, Desmond."

"See you in another life, brother."

As Desmond walked away, Jack walked over to the railing and leaned against it, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Breathing heavily, he looked up at the sky. Everything was happening so fast, he wasn't sure what to think anymore. At this point he was ready to get home and go to sleep.

It didn't take him long to make his way to the parking lot where his car was waiting. He pulled the car out onto the road and began driving through the streets towards his house. Halfway there he saw a girl walking down the side of the road. He looked at her as he passed and was shocked to see it was Kate. He rolled the window down.

"Get in," he called.

"Jack?" she asked, surprised.

"Come on, I'll give you a lift."

"No, that's fine," she insisted.

The car behind Jack started honking at him going so slow.

"Hurry, I've got to go," he cried.

She opened the door and hopped in the passenger's seat.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"Where am I headed?" he asked.

"Turn left in two blocks."

Jack drove in silence for a few minutes trying to figure out where he was going to go.

"How was your first day?" he asked.

"Not too bad," she said with another smile.

"That's good."

"The school's a lot smaller than the one I came from, so, it's not too much of a hassle."

"Why did you move?" he asked.

"Military," she said as she looked out the window.

"Oh, sorry,"

"Me too."

Jack turned onto the street she instructed.

"Just pull up here."

"Kate, I can take you to your house."

"Thanks, Jack."

She opened the door and looked like she was about to say something.

"Oh, Kate," Jack started.

"Yes?"

"Sawyer isn't dating Juliet."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Ok. Thanks."

She fumbled her way from the door and waved as he drove away. _Why would he say that? _She wondered. Her thoughts shifted through her day from her new teachers and new classmates, including Sawyer and Jack. In fact, her day had started and ended with Jack Shephard. She had been to several different schools growing up, but she knew Oceanic High School was nothing like any other school she'd been to.


	9. Because you Theft

A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews! This is my first story and didn't expect any response J

Kate looked at her reflection in the mirror. Trying to ignore the fighting going on in the kitchen, she turned up the Patsy Cline song and pulled her hair back into a curly ponytail. While she had debated for an hour whether to go to the basketball game or not, she had nothing else to do and desperately wanted to get out of the house.

Pulling her wallet and keys off the desk, she walked out of the room. Her mother was leaning over the table yelling at Wayne. Kate hurried toward the front door.

"Where are you going?" she called.

"Out."

"Hey!" Wayne yelled after her.

"What?" Kate said angrily.

"You don't stay out too late."

Without saying another word, Kate slammed the door behind her and walked into the cool spring air. The school was far enough away she had to start early to make it there on time, but she was enjoying the walk alone.

Once she made it out of the trailer park, she continued down the busy street. There was a convenience store on the corner and she went inside to grab some candy. All the candy was in boxes over to the side and Kate picked up a few packages before dropping them. The worker left the counter to go into the back room. Seeing her chance, Kate's hands slipped one of the bags into her pocket.

"Hey!" a voice said next to her.

Jumping, Kate turned to see who it was.

"Hi," she said with a smile recognizing one of the boys from school.

He hadn't noticed her slight of hand. Grinning, he walked up to her.

"Hey. Kate right?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I'm Charlie."

"Hi, Charlie," she started walking for the door. "Are you going to the basketball game?"

"Are you going?" he asked.

"Yeah,"

"Yeah, if you're going I'm going."

"Great. We're both going," Kate said as she left the store.

"Did you drive?" Charlie asked.

"No, I don't have a car."

"Right. Come on," Charlie said as he walked over to a car.

She slid into the passenger's side as he turned the car on. Grinning, he pulled out of the gas station and turned the radio.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" he asked.

"Oh, this and that," she said with a smile and nod.

"Right. You play anything?"

"Nope. Nothing more than the radio."

He laughed, "That's a good one. Where did you move from?"

"Iowa."

"What's in Iowa?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, turning to the window.

He laughed again, but it was obviously forced.

"So you got school spirit already?"

"Just wanted to get out of the house."

"Right. I know how that goes."

They pulled up to a stop light and both sat in silence, waiting for the light to change. She felt bad, he had offered her a ride, she should at least try to be friendly.

"So you like basketball?" she asked.

"Nah, not really. It's always fun to go though. No telling what will happen."

"Have you been here your whole life?"

"Do I sound like it?" he said with a grin.

"Guess not," she smiled.

The light changed and it was only a few minutes before they made it to the high school. Some kids had already gotten there and were walking up to the gym. Kate saw Shannon walking up with Boone. They certainly were an odd pair of kids. She couldn't tell if they really hated each other or actually liked each other.

"Ready?" Charlie turned the car off and Kate climbed out.

Walking up to the gym seemed so familiar though she had only been to the school once. They made it inside and Charlie saw someone he knew.

"You can go talk to your friends, I'll go inside and find us a seat."

"Ok, sure,"

As Charlie turned to walk away, Kate walked inside the gym. She climbed the bleachers and watched as the polar bear ran along the side lines trying to get the kids to do the wave. It was failing miserably. She sat down and started watching the guy in the costume.

"Well, Freckles, didn't pin you as the school spirit type."

Kate looked up to see Sawyer standing over her, "You gonna stand there all night Sawyer?"

He laughed and sat down, "I guess the view isn't too bad from here."

"I didn't think you were the sports type either."

"I ain't the any type. Which means I can do just about anything."

He watched Kate strain her neck to look at the team on the floor.

"Who are you looking for? Got a thing for the Cap, now do ya?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Word on the street is you can't keep your eyes off the Shephard. Of course, I know it ain't Jack you can't keep your eyes off of, but you know."

"Oh, please." Kate said with a smile.

"Don't get too excited Freckles. The Cap tends to drive girls away anyways. Me, on the other hand,…"

Kate laughed and saw Charlie enter the gym.

"What's the hobbit doing here?"

"I came with him," Kate said with an eyebrow raised.

"Well hot damn, Freckles. You don't waste time around here, do you?"

Kate laughed again as she stood up to signal Charlie where they where. While she was standing, she pulled out the candy from her pocket.

"Want some?" she offered.

"You bet," Sawyer said with a grin, holding out his hand.

Charlie scooted down the seat as Kate poured some candy into Sawyer's hand. Kate offered some to Charlie and he refused.

Kate sat back down and couldn't help scanning the floor again for Jack Shephard, but he wasn't there.


	10. What They Fouled For

-1 Jack stood outside the gym, watching cars pull up. He hugged his jacket close to him even though it wasn't that cold outside.

"Who are you waiting for?" Juliet asked as she walked up.

"What? No one," he shook his head.

"He'll come," she said finally.

He laughed sarcastically, his features turning into a grimace, "I don't care if he does."

Juliet smiled sympathetically, "Yes you do."

She pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "Game's gonna start soon. You'll probably be needed inside."

"Thanks."

Juliet left and Jack followed a few minutes after. He pulled his jacket off as he walked to the locker rooms to put his uniform on. He went through the motions automatically because he had done them so often. It didn't bother him that his dad wasn't coming to his last home game. His dad had never come to any of his games. There was no reason why this one would be any different. Somehow, though, he thought that if he knew his dad was watching, if he knew his dad could see what he had accomplished, he would be able to win.

The guys were gathering in the hall before running onto the floor, just like they had before the pep rally. Jack stared up at the florescent light above him.

"You ready?" Boone asked next to him.

Jack looked over and nodded with a grin. He was glad the other guys were really fired up about the game.

Locke walked through the team, giving a pep talk about the will of the team to beat Ajira and take them down once and for all. Locke turned and looked at Jack for reassurance.

"That's right," Jack called, all the guys turning to look at him, "We can win this. We just have to believe in ourselves."

They all nodded in agreement and began cheering loudly. As they burst into the gym, the stands erupted into cheers that the mascot had been unable to conjure up.

Kate cheered along with her fellow Oceanics and even Sawyer threw in a holler. Charlie remained sitting, but he was preoccupied with the girl sitting on his other side.

The first quarter started out what looked to be a fairly matched game. Right before one of the Oceanics made a shot, one of the larger Ajira players pushed against his chest.

Kate and several other kids began yelling foul. Sawyer stood up with the other kids.

"What does that mean?"

"What does that mean?" Kate repeated, "It's blocking. It's illegal, and the ref's not going to call it."

"Oh, right."

Kate grinned, "You don't know the rules of basketball, do you?"

"So what if I don't? You some kind of expert, Shaq?"

Kate turned her palms up, "Nope. But I've seen enough basketball to know the rules."

"Well I haven't."

"You're old man didn't teach you?" she teased.

She stopped when she saw his face tense for a minute and she knew she had crossed a line.

"Oh, Sawyer, I'm sorry,"

"What happens after a foul, Freckles? You can be my personal coach."

Kate finished her candy and took a little more joy than she had thought she would in explaining the rules of the game to Sawyer. All the while, though, the questions of his past were gnawing at her mind.

The game passed quickly, Ajira scoring then Oceanic scoring. Locke yelled encouragement from the side lines and even Jack let himself have some fun. The clock ticked away until there was 4 minutes left on the clock.

Jack was about to pass the ball when he saw Boone fall to the ground. The referee blew his whistle. Jack rushed over to Boone.

"What happened?" he called.

Boone had his hand on his side, "He elbowed me and tripped me."

"What?" Jack asked, shaking his head.

Helping Boone up he looked over to one of the Ajira guys, "He got me in the elbow and I fell."

With his hands on Boone's shoulder, he scanned the sidelines for Locke. He was heading over.

"Come on," Locke said as he pulled Boone's weight onto him.

"I think I can walk fine," Boone said.

"Did you see what happened?" Jack asked.

"Yep," Locke replied.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to do anything," he grunted as they moved to the sidelines.

"You're just going to let him attack our guys and not do anything?" Jack growled.

"Get back in the game, Jack. Keep your head here."

Jack pursed his lips and shook his head. The ref blew the whistle again and everybody began cheering. Oceanic took their free throws and missed.

Kate watched the guys run back and forth. Jack seemed to be getting more and more angry. As she looked from the stands, one of the larger players pushed against Jack. Something in him seemed to snap and he launched himself at the other player. On the back of his jersey was written Eko. With one solid punch, Jack was flung to the ground. Jumping back up, Jack began throwing punches back at Eko. Kate was shocked at the anger in Jack's face. Whistles began blowing and most of the kids settled into an eerie quiet.

From the side, Locke jumped to pull Jack away. There was blood on his face, but he didn't look like he was about to give up. Without knowing why, Kate felt herself getting ready to run down to him. She stopped when she noticed Juliet heading that way.

As Locke pulled Jack off the court, Juliet nearly broke into a run. She slipped out where they were standing in the hallway.

"What was that all about Jack?" Locke cried.

"What was that about?" he countered, "That was about showing them that they can't push us around, Coach. That was about showing them that they can't just hurt us and get away with it. Because you were just going to let them go, weren't you?"

"You cost us the game, Jack." His cold eyes stared at Jack's bloody face.

"Is that what its about? You're willing to let Boone get hurt to win the game?"

"It wasn't fatal. It was just a little bruise. So he got hurt, he'll live. We could have won that. Now we'll be penalized."

"That's right. I should have just took it. Is that what you're saying?"

"I think you need to cool down, Jack. Go home."

"No," he shook his head, "No, I'm going to finish this."

"You already have. You need to leave."

Locke turned and went back into the gym, leaving Jack with his hands on his hips, staring at the ceiling. Juliet approached from her spot against the wall.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Don't," he shook his head.

"I'm just trying to talk to you."

He clenched his jaw and shook his head.

"I'm on your side. I always have been…" Juliet said as she raised her hand.

"I know."

Jack moved over to the wall and slid down, his hands on his knees. Juliet walked over slowly.

"Why don't you go home and rest and we can hang out some other time. Monday we could meet in the library to study."

Jack nodded. She tapped him on the shoulder before standing up.

"I'll see you Monday, Jack."

It was getting closer to the end and some kids were walking into the hall way to leave early. Jack stood up to go to the bathroom to wash his face off. As he turned the corner he saw someone coming after him. It was Kate.

"Hey," she said with a small smile, "Do you want some help?"

"I'm just going to the bathroom to wash this off."

"Okay," she said following him.

"Kate, I'm going into the boys bathroom."

"Come on. I'm just helping you with your face," she rolled her eyes.

They walked in and Kate wetted a paper towel. Moving to Jack's face, she dabbed at the blood. He knelt on the floor, her leaning over him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said trying not to move, "I just," he stopped, "I just got angry at the thought of them harassing Boone and then when he tried to push me,"

"I didn't know you were so close to Boone," she said.

"I'm not," he sighed, "I just feel responsible for them, you know."

"Yeah," Kate said, though she really didn't know.

"I would offer you a ride home, but I came with Charlie."

"You did?" he asked, surprised.

She smiled, "Yeah, he picked me up at a gas station on my way here."

"Oh. Don't worry about it, my car is here."

"Okay," she looked into his eyes, "I know you think you did the right thing."

"But you don't think so?"

"I didn't say that."

Jack looked back at her, but didn't say anything. He laughed lightly and took the paper towel from her hands. His eyes crinkling at the edges.

"Just because you didn't score the most points, doesn't mean you didn't win," she said softly.

Their faces were inches away and Jack looked into her eyes searching for some signal, but saw nothing. There was a sound from someone pushing in the door and she pulled back, startled.

"I'll see you Monday, Jack."

"Thanks, Kate," he said.

She nodded and pushed the out door.

"There you are," Charlie said, looking confused. "What were you doing?"

"What? Nothing," she said with a smile, "Are you ready?"

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me what you were doing in the boys bathroom, then don't tell me."

"Would you believe me if I said I was looking for you?"

"No."

"Alright then."

They walked out into the night and passed Sawyer talking to Juliet. Kate tried to look away from both of them. She hadn't talked to Juliet, but already she was afraid things would be awkward. As they made their way to the parking lot, Kate noticed Jack's car. There was an older man leaning against it with his hands crossed. She wasn't sure, but she had a pretty good guess this was Jack's father. They had the same intense eyes and he looked mad as hell.

"You wanna go get a drink or some food?"

"Can you just take me home, Charlie?" she asked as she slid into the car.

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

Kate watched the back of the man's head as they pulled out and wondered what it was like at the Shephard house. It may be more like her house than she would want. She dreaded each passing moment that brought her closer to going home. There was nothing for her there.


	11. The Short Con

-1 "This is ridiculous," Jack said firmly.

"No, Jack, ridiculous is finding out that your son who's a senior in high school, captain of the basketball team, on the track to being a doctor, was thrown out of the basketball game for fighting. That is what's ridiculous."

Christian looked at the car in front of them the entire time, from the garage to the road leading to the school. That's what made it so frustrating for Jack. He wouldn't even look at him. His father refused to look him in the eye.

"It wasn't like that. I was standing up for my team."

"You were fighting a personal battle. Life is about controlling the situation so it doesn't control you. You need to learn that Jack. If you don't have what it takes, don't play the game."

The words stung Jack and he pursed his lips together as he turned his head quickly towards the window. He knew there wasn't anything left to say to his father; he had stopped listening years ago.

He pulled up to the front of the school, "You can get your car back easily, Jack, the same can't be said for your position in life."

"Thanks, dad," he said sourly as he jumped out of the car.

As he hopped up the steps to the school he ran his hand through his hair. It took all he had not to look back to see if his dad was watching him like you would a four year old. He was more scared that if he turned around, he would already be gone.

Inside the school, he made his way down the half set of stairs on his left to make it to his first class. He dreaded the looks and whispers of the day. He hoped the fight wouldn't be fresh on everyone's mind. One look from Mr. Linus as he passed him on the stairs proved that not only was it still fresh, it had spread.

"Hello Jack," he said sedately as he passed.

Jack nodded. Something about Mr. Linus had always given him the creeps. He arrived in the classroom a little early and no one was in the class yet besides Mrs. Hawking.

"Did you have a pleasant weekend, Jack?" she asked.

He tried not to laugh, "I've had better."

"That's unfortunate. It was just one game."

Just one game, he thought.

He pulled out his notebook and his bottle of water. He drank a little bit before shoving it back into the backpack. A few kids had started walking in, but none of them even seemed to notice him. He really only dreaded seeing two people. After the strange encounter in the bathroom, he wasn't sure how Kate would act around him. The second, Sawyer, would only make him angry.

Jack sat and copied out definitions quietly when he saw a girl slip into the desk behind him.

"Hey," she whispered, "how are you doing?"

He turned in his seat, "I'm fine. How are you?"

Her curly hair fell around her shoulders and Jack couldn't help but stare at how beautiful she was. Even though he had only known her a few days, it seemed like they had been friends forever.

She smiled weakly, "I'm doing great."

He nodded, unsure of what to say.

"You know," she started, "I was thinking,"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the bell and Mrs. Hawking standing up to start the lesson. Kate stopped abruptly when the noise stopped and Jack turned around. Involuntarily, her eyes flicked to Sawyer's empty seat.

"Son of a bitch," Sawyer growled as he jumped up the steps while listening to the final ding of the bell.

It wasn't his fault he slept in. He was up late trying to do his homework. It wasn't that he was stupid, it was just that he didn't see the point in trying. He knew the drill though, and headed for the office door.

"Mr. Ford, late again?"

"I know, I'm sorry. It's my little brother. I have to take him to school first and I had to help him with his science project. I know I should have started out sooner. I'll know for next time though right?" he said, turning on the charm with a grin.

"Well, if you hurry, you can probably make it," she said with a smile, pushing away the late sign in sheet.

"Thank you," he sighed with relief and took off.

_That's right,_ he thought, _make them think it's their idea._

Mrs. Hawking was sitting at her desk and the kids were working in groups on something. He considered trying to slide in the door to his chair, but Hawking was smarter than most of them. It would be harder to pull the wool over her eyes. The best approach would probably be to confront it head on.

"James," she said sternly, "Late again, I see."

"Yes ma'am," he said.

"I know you overslept. Take your seat and try to catch up."

He gave her a funny look, but wasn't going to do anything. He turned to move quickly to his seat. Kate looked up at him with raised eyebrows but said nothing. She had moved her desk up to Jack's and they were working on the worksheet side by side.

Sawyer slid into the desk and looked around, wondering who would let him join.

"Why don't you join us?" Jack asked, turning to Sawyer.

Kate looked up at him, surprised.

"Thanks, Mike."

Jack didn't say anything, but scrunched his eye in question of the new nickname.

"Mike? Mike Tyson? I saw those punches you threw at the game."

Jack didn't know if Sawyer was teasing or trying to be funny. Either way it didn't bother him near as much as he had thought it would.

"That's funny, Sawyer," he commented before passing him his copy of the worksheet. "Here, use this, I can look off of Kate's."

Sawyer took the paper and smiled at Jack's cleverness. Of course he would look off of Kate's, that was a quick con. The look on her face made it seem like she was pretty happy to be right where she was, in between Jack and Sawyer.

Jack knew most of the answers and did most of the work which suited Sawyer just fine. Kate didn't seem that impressed anyways. Sawyer wondered about how that relationship would work, they both seemed to enjoy controlling the situation so who would try to control who? That's why he thought he was better off for her, because he wasn't afraid to let the lady take the reins.

When the bell finally rang, Sawyer sidled up to Kate before Jack could.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

"French," she said.

"Well, that's right by my next class, I'll walk you there."

"Thanks," she said with a slight smile.

"Hey, don't get too excited, Freckles, this is the beginner's special. I'm only helping cuz you're new here."

"I'll try not to get used to it," she said with a bigger smile.


	12. The Greeting Party

-1Jack glanced at Kate leaving with Sawyer as he shrugged his backpack on and moved towards Math. Them together also didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. It was turning into a strange morning, for sure. Jack ran into a man as he headed for the stairs because he wasn't paying attention.

"Sorry, brother," the voice said as he grabbed Jack by the elbows, "Are you alright?"

Jack looked up into the man's face, thinking he looked really familiar.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry."

"No need to apologize," he said with a smile, "Hey, don't I know you?"

Jack finally recognized him like a punch to the stomach. The man from the stadium.

"Yeah, I think we met last weekend, the stadium? You fell and hurt your foot."

"That's right," he said with a nod, "I remember you now. You asked about Fate, yeah? I think this might be Fate in the making, brother."

Jack laughed, "Maybe so."

"Des," he said as he stuck out his hand, "and your name was Jack?"

"Yeah," Jack shook it, "name's Jack."

"Good to meet you again. You've got to get going, I bet. See you in another class, yeah?" he said with a laugh.

"Yeah, see you," Jack said as they walked away.

It was a weird morning that kept getting weirder. As soon as he walked into Mr. Alpert's class, he called him to the desk.

"Jack, come here please."

Jack walked up to the desk, worried about what he would say.

"I have a note here that you need to go see the principal once class starts."

"What for?" Jack asked.

Richard smiled, "I don't know Jack, I guess you'll find out when you get there. Wait a few minutes so I can pass out the worksheet before you go, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Jack said.

Jack moved to put his stuff down by his desk and walked over the class to Claire. He knelt down beside the desk to talk to her.

"Hey," he said quietly, "How are things going?"

"Oh hey Jack," Claire said sweetly. "I'm fine, how are you?"

Jack raised his eyebrows, "I'm doing alright. Are you okay?"

Claire's eyes darted back and forth, "I'm fine Jack, you already asked that."

She tried to laugh off the awkwardness.

"Okay, yeah," he stood up, "Just wanted to see how things were going."

"Okay," she said, drawing it out.

Charlie walked in right as Jack stood up. He tried to hide his annoyance but did a pretty bad job of it as he sat down behind her.

"Hi Charlie," Jack said quickly.

"Jack."

Jack patted his jeans before acknowledging that he couldn't stand there any longer without some sort of excuse so he moved back to his seat. He could feel Charlie glaring at him the whole way. In a few minutes, Richard started the math lesson and passed out the worksheet. Once Jack had his, he stood to leave.

"Good luck," Richard said dryly as he left.

While he hoped he was kidding, he was afraid he would really need it. He walked down the hall and came into view of the office just as Sawyer did from the other hallway. He glanced over at Sawyer, but didn't say anything as they continued to walk in the same direction. Sawyer gave a head nod. Jack imagined him getting in trouble for something stupid and having to go speak to Jacob. Of course, he was imagining himself getting in trouble for the fight. They both reached the door at the same time.

"Ladies first," Sawyer mumbled as he pulled the door open.

Jack fought the urge to roll his eyes and walked in, seeing Juliet sitting there talking to Jacob.

"Boys, have a seat." he said calmly.

Jack and Sawyer realized they had been called for the same reason and looked to each other. Juliet smiled at them both.

"Is something the matter?" Jack asked.

"Not at all," Jacob said with a smile, "I have a job for the three of you."

Juliet relaxed in her chair, in between Sawyer and Jack. This was the space she had occupied for years it seemed, wedged between them, keeping them from killing one another. Though maybe things had changed with the arrival of Austen. She could only hope to make Sawyer go for it. She was afraid the complete opposite would occur.

"A job?" Sawyer asked suddenly.

"Yes," he said, "There are three exchange students arriving tomorrow and each of them are to be treated as a special guest. I have personally selected the three of you to be assigned to one of the students to help them adjust to life here in the US. They are from England. Is this going to be a problem?"

Jack shook his head. Juliet smiled. Sawyer winced.

"Why'd you pick me?" Sawyer asked, "I know why you picked the brainiacs over here, but I'm not the captain of any club."

"James, you're the captain of club 'nice guy', though you would never want to admit that. I watch you James, and you're very helpful. In fact, I've noticed you've taken a special interest in making sure Miss Austen finds everything alright. Now, you owe a few hours of detention, so consider this a trade. You help this student and I'll cancel your detention. Fair enough?"

Sawyer nearly laughed at hearing the principal try to pull a con on him. Still, a deal was a deal, and who knows one of these exchange students could turn out to be worth his time.

"Deal."

"That will be all then," Jacob said as he picked up some folders on his desk, "Please just stop in here before school tomorrow to meet your student and talk a little. And James, don't be late."

Sawyer smirked as he stood up to leave.

"Jack, stay for a minute," Jacob said.

Sawyer and Juliet left the room and Juliet gave him a small smile before leaving the room.

"I'm sure you know why I asked you to stay," Jacob said, leaning forward on the desk.

"No," Jack shook his head.

"It's not in school policy to allow fighting Jack. It was on school property at a school function. We do not condone violence."

"I know," he said quietly.

"That being said, I understand why you did what you did. If you're willing to do this service and help sort books in the library after school today all your punishment will be annulled. Does that sound like a deal?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, that would be great."

"Please don't let this happen again, Jack."

"It won't."

Jack stood to leave quickly. Outside he nearly passed Juliet who was sitting on one of the benches outside.

"Hey," he said with a smile.

"Hey," she said, smiling back, "So what happened?"

They started walking, "He basically gave me the same speech he gave Sawyer."

Juliet laughed, "You should have taken the detention."

"As opposed to spending the day with an English lady? No way."

"And what makes you so sure yours will be a girl?" she teased.

"I'll trade you if it isn't."

She laughed, "I doubt it will work that way."

He laughed too, "Yeah, maybe not."

"So are we still on for studying after school?"

"Oh," Jack realized, "he asked me to help sort books in the library after school today."

"That's fine, we can study afterwards. Deal?"

Jack laughed, thinking of all the deals he was making today, "Deal," he said taking her hand.

She smiled as her fingers lingered in his, "I'm this way," she said as she pulled away.

"See you in English," he called before leaving.

"Yeah," Juliet mumbled as she walked back towards Mr. Friendly's class.

Her thoughts wandered to the exchange students. As long as they weren't a stuck up snob, they would get along fine. She tried not to think about it too much because her mind began going wild with strange visions. She would find out the identity of her student soon enough.


	13. Flashes Before Your Guys

-1Kate walked down the hallway with the rest of the students towards her English class. Jack was walking the other direction and she smiled as he made it to the door.

"Hi, Kate," he said gesturing her to walk in, "Ladies first."

She snickered and headed in, noticing Ben Linus standing at the board writing some notes. He was such an odd man, he kind of gave her the feeling that he was always watching them.

Kate's thoughts were brought back to reality when she realized Jack was talking to her.

"What?" she asked.

He laughed, "I just asked how your morning was."

"It's okay," she said as she sat down, "I'm pretty tired. That's Monday for you though, right?"

Jack nodded as he pulled out his copy of _Watership Down, _"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"It feels like I've gone to school here forever though," she said.

"This place will do that to you," he mumbled.

Ben started the class cutting off all conversation between Jack and Kate. She wanted to turn around and see if Sawyer was behind her, watching her. But she worried about making eye contact with Juliet. She didn't know where any of them stood with each other. There was something about Juliet that bothered Kate. It was like she had a need to prove her friendship with Jack and Sawyer. Who knew though, Kate didn't know Sawyer or Jack that well either.

After staring at the same paragraph in her book, Kate snuck a glance at Jack. He was hunched over his notebook, his t-shirt loose against his arm. He looked over at her, his eyes smiling. In that one look, Kate felt as though she had known him her whole life. She fought the urge to unconsciously reach out an take his hand. She forced her eyes back to the paper.

The lecture lasted forever in Kate's eyes and the lunch bell couldn't come quick enough. She stood, pulling on her backpack. Hanging back, she hoped to walk with Jack. When Juliet slid up beside them, Kate couldn't help but feel her anger rise.

Jack and Juliet started talking about students but Kate didn't know what that meant.

"What students?" she asked Jack.

"The principal asked Jack and Sawyer and I to help three foreign exchange students around the school tomorrow," Juliet jumped in.

"Who did you get?" Kate asked, specifically looking at Jack.

"I don't know," he shook his head as they walked, "Jacob said we'd find out tomorrow."

"Where are they from?" she asked.

"I think he said England."

"Oh wow," Kate said with a smile.

"They should have asked Charlie," he said nodding his head toward the little Manchurian standing awkwardly at one of the cafeteria tables.

Charlie rubbed a guitar pick between his thumb and finger. He had watched Claire take her tray across the lunchroom and hoped it didn't seem as creepy as it probably looked. Going over the few lines he had previously rehearsed, he sucked in a breath and walked over there.

It wasn't like Claire was the prettiest girl in the school, that would obviously be Shannon, or even the new girl. But Claire had something that made Charlie look at her twice, this willingness to see the good in everyone that captivated Charlie. As corny as it sounded, it was her spirit that made him want to be around her.

"Hey Claire," he said as he stood awkwardly by the table.

"Charlie," she smiled as she ate a fry.

Charlie continued to stand, tapping his fingers on the top of the cheap linoleum table.

"Are you gonna sit down?" she asked with a grin, her blue eyes shining.

"Oh, right," he sat down across from her.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, Charlie looking around awkwardly, while Claire munched on her fries.

"So, um, are you going to prom?" Charlie asked finally, cursing himself for not using his rehearsed lines.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't have a dress or anything, you know."

"Well you could get one. A dress, I mean," he added.

She laughed, "I know. I just," her voice trailed off.

"I was just thinking, you know, if you wanted to go and needed someone to go with then I could go and we could just go together. That is," he said, "if you wanted to."

"I'm sorry, Charlie," she said finally, "I'm just really not into prom."

"Yeah, right," he said, rubbing a polished fingernail, "It is pretty stupid."

He stood up, trying to judge the best way to make his escape.

"But," she added, "I'm supposed to work at this animal shelter this weekend, if you want to come with me, we could always use the extra help."

Charlie soaked in her friendly smile and took what he could get, "Ya, sure, that sounds great."

He started to back away victoriously, but Claire stopped him.

"Uh, Charlie, do you want my number or something so we can meet up?"

"That would probably help," Charlie mumbled.

He pulled out a pen and began scribbling the number on his hand. Now he'd never be able to wash it.

Kate glanced over to the table and watched the two awkwardly flirt. She thought about the time she spent with Charlie at the game. The only memory she held from that night involved her in the bathroom on the floor with Jack.

She looked back at her table where Jack, Juliet and Sawyer sat talking. Sawyer was leaning against the back of his chair as though he had so many other things to do than sit in the cafeteria of Oceanic High.

"What's on your mind, Freckles?"

Juliet and Jack were in a conversation and didn't hear Sawyer talk.

"Nothing," she said quietly, taking a bite of her potato.

"Is that so?" he said with a crooked grin.

"What do you want, Sawyer?"

"Just asking," he said, the grin remaining.

When it was time to go, Sawyer stood next to Kate, "Walk you to your next class?"

Jack glanced over at the words, but didn't say anything. He raised his hand in a silent goodbye to Kate, and was gone.

"Why don't you just tell him you like him," Sawyer said as they left the noisy cafeteria.

"What?" Kate asked.

"I know you heard me, Freckles."

"I don't like him. He's just one of the few people that have had the decency to try and be my friend," she said, realizing it came out harsher than she intended.

"Ouch," Sawyer said, reaching for his heart, "Here I am walking with you to your next class and all you can say is how Cap over there was nice enough to say your name. That cuts deep."

Kate had to smile, "I didn't mean it like that."

They headed up the stairs and around the corner, "Thanks for walking with me Sawyer."

"My pleasure Freckles."

He opened the door of the art room for her, and followed her inside.


	14. Work Together, Fail Alone

Claire watched Kate smile at Sawyer as they made their way to one of the tables. She turned back to her sunset that she had been working on. Mr. Friendly was reading a book with his feet propped on the desk and didn't seem to care what the students were doing. She poured more of the purple on her pallet and spread it across the sky.

Her thoughts made their way back to Kate. Not only did she have Sawyer after her, but everyone had heard about what happened with her and Jack in the bathroom. Claire always thought of Jack as her older brother. He was always willing to help out and she knew she could trust him. She wondered what he really thought about Kate.

"Hey," Kate said beside her, "Claire, right?"

Claire smiled, "Yeah, hi,"

"Could I borrow some purple?"

Claire laughed, "Sure, sorry, I didn't realize I was hogging it all."

Kate smiled, "Nah, we're all in this together, right?"

"Right," she said as she brushed her long back behind her ear.

"Thanks," Kate said with another big smile before returning to her seat.

Claire began to wonder what Kate would think about her if she knew she was pregnant. It was only a matter of time before everyone found out anyways. She focused her thoughts back on the ocean sunset on her page. She was going to have to find a dress for prom. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if Jack would ask Kate to prom or if he'd have to fight Sawyer.

"Claire, can I borrow some purple?"

Claire turned to the guy who had moved up next to her.

"Hey Hurley," she said before handing over the purple bottle. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," he said before he gave it a squeeze.

Nothing came out.

"Aw, sorry," she said, "We must have used it all."

"It's okay," he said as he turned to take the bottle to Mr. Friendly.

"Uh, dude," Hurley said when he reached the desk, "We're like, all out of purple."

"Supply closet's next door," Mr. Friendly said as he pulled his ring of keys out of his pocket. "You can get some from the shelf."

Hurley looked up at the clock as he passed. At this rate he would barely have any time to use the purple before he had to clean up. Stupid grapes. All he was trying to do was paint his bowl of fruit. Of course there would be grapes.

He walked over to the door and grabbed the collection of keys.

"Great," he mumbled when he realized he didn't know which one went to the lock.

He grabbed the first key 04. That didn't work. The next two were shaped weird but he tried them just the same. No to 08 and no to 15. 16 wouldn't even fit in the lock. 23 would fit but he couldn't get it to turn. 42 was similar to the others, but it also wouldn't budge. One key left. Hurley slid key 108 into the lock and it clicked as he turned.

He pushed the door open and was surprised at what he saw. Shelf after shelf of every kind of art supply he could ever want. He found the little tubes of purple and grabbed two, just in case someone else wanted one.

He flipped off the light and made his way back into the classroom. Handing the keys back to Mr. Friendly, he carried the two tubes in the crook of his arm. He walked over to Claire and set one of them next to her.

"Thanks, Hurley," she said as she poured a little more on her pallet.

He took the other tube to his desk. As he passed Sawyer, he looked up and called out to him.

"Hey, Jumbotron, where'd you get the purple?"

"The closet," Hurley said as he hurried past.

Sawyer rose and made his way up to the front desk. Hurley had just poured a glob of purple on his plate before he heard his name.

"Hugo, come here," Mr. Friendly called.

Hurley made his way up to the front where Mr. Friendly held the key ring in his fingers.

"Could you get James some more yellow paint?" He asked without even looking up.

"Sure," Hurley said taking the keys and walking back towards the closet.

Sawyer followed him a few steps before he said, "Hold up, dude, just wait here."

He expected a quick witted retaliation, but instead, he just took a few steps back and raised his hands in surrender.

Hurley made his way back into the closet, quicker this time that he knew the key number and found a bottle of yellow. After handing it over to Sawyer, he noticed another kid standing there with his hand outstretched.

"Great," Hurley mumbled.


	15. The Substitute

When Jack left the cafeteria, he made his way up the stairs to Biology. He loved the class and actually enjoyed doing all the work, but couldn't stand the teacher, Mr. Arzt. He always tried to push the kids around and that made Jack annoyed.

Jack pushed open the door and saw the man he had run into earlier.

"Why hello, my running friend. Looks like you're in my class."

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked, shaking his head.

The man smiled, "I'm here to teach you. To show you the truth."

Jack took his seat and waited for Juliet to get there. When she did, she didn't act like anything was wrong.

"Have you ever met that man before?" Jack asked quietly.

"The sub?" Juliet asked, amused. "Why would I have met the substitute?"

"Like around campus or anything?" Jack asked, still whispering.

"Why are you whispering?" Juliet said with a smile.

"When I was running the stadium steps last week he was there running too. And then this morning I ran into him while heading to class and now he's the substitute. Isn't that strange?"

Juliet tried not to laugh, "It's not that strange, Jack. Are you feeling alright?"

Jack turned back to his book, "Yeah, I'm fine. Tired I guess."

"Hey, kids," the man said loudly, bringing the class to order, "Mr. Arzt had a little accident with some chemicals and can't be here. So, I'll be your sub for the time being. My name is Desmond Hume, but there's no need to be too formal here, brother. I have it down that you're working on your cat dissection, so have at it."

He sat down at his desk and looked directly at Jack. Jack stood to get the supplies.

"Ready?" Juliet asked as she moved to get the cat.

"Always," Jack replied.

Desmond watched the kids move from desk to desk pulling out the specimens and hacking away. Of all the classes, he was assigned Biology. He had hoped it would be something like business or computers but when Widmore had called him at the last minute, he knew beggars couldn't be choosers.

The class passed quickly and Desmond watched as Jack left with Juliet. Jack was an interesting student. Juliet went one way and Jack went the other. History was just down the hall from Biology and it took Jack no time to make it to Mr. Widmore's class.

"Jack," Mr. Widmore said as he entered the class, "I have your report graded. You missed last week due to the pep rally."

"Thank you, Mr. Widmore," Jack said as he walked to the desk to retrieve his paper.

As always, he skimmed it to the back to see what the grade was. A. That was nice. He was expecting at least a low B. Egyptian gods had never been his strong area. He slid into his seat and looked up only when Sayid sat down in front of him. He remembered the awkwardness of the lunch table and wondered how it was he had sat behind Sayid and never knew very much about him. Jack wanted to start a conversation, but didn't know how to start. He knew it would come out awkward.

The bell rang and he never got the chance. Mr. Widmore, who announced the first day of class he preferred to lecture like a college course, turned the lights off to begin his lecture with his powerpoint presentation.

"Alright," he began, "Who can tell me who this is?"

The first slide showed a hieroglyph of a dog like figure standing with a staff.

"Anubis," Sayid said confidently.

"That's right," Mr. Widmore said. "And Anubis was the god of…?"

"The afterlife," Sayid answered again.

"Yes, the afterlife, but he was in charge of ushering the dead into the afterlife. The pharaohs of Egypt were entombed after being mummified with all their possessions and it was believed by these people that they would require assistance in being shown into the world of the dead. Could this be because they possibly didn't realize that they were dead?"

Mr. Widmore continued to talk about Anubis and the rituals of wearing an Anubis mask while embalming the dead. When he clicked the slide, it showed a statue of Taweret.

"Taweret is the goddess of…?"

"Fertility and childbirth," Sayid said, again confident.

"Again, correct, Mr. Jarrah," Mr. Widmore said as he began to explain the importance of fertility in the royal Egyptian household.

"The Pharaoh would need someone to continue his work after he was finished. It was important for the legacy of the Pharaoh to pass from father to son,"

Jack tried not to scoff and began doodling in his notebook. As the hour progressed it became harder and harder for him to stay awake with the lights off. His eyes began drooping and he hoped Mr. Widmore hadn't noticed.

Just about the time that he had finished the last line of his paper with JACK SHEPHARD in block letters, the bell rang.

"Finish that chapter tonight," Widmore called as the students rushed out of the class room.

Jack rushed out of his class towards French when he ran into Sun on the way.

"Jack," she called. "I don't know what you did, but Jin asked me to prom."

Jack laughed as he pulled on the straps of his backpack, "No problem, Sun."

"Will you be there?" Sun asked eagerly.

"Where?" he said as he slowed down and turned to her.

"At prom, silly," she said playfully slapping at his arm.

He laughed, "I don't know, Sun. I don't have a date, so probably not."

"You know," she began, "I don't think Kate has a date either."

"Oh really?" he asked with another little laugh, "I'll keep that in mind."

Sun sighed as he walked away with a wave. Little did he realize practically every girl in the school was in love with him.

Jack moved into the class and went straight to Ms. Rousseau. The easiest way to a problem was always head on.

"Ms. Rousseau, I haven't finished my homework yet. I know I should have, but with the game and everything. And I just can't get the hang of the tenses."

Rousseau looked at him skeptically, but smiled. He knew he was one of her favorite students.

"I make this exception for you, Jack. Go to the back and get the assignment out of the box from last week when you miss."

"Merci," he said clumsily.

He walked to the back and began shuffling through the papers to find a blank copy of the assignment.

"Did she let you off the hook too?" Shannon asked beside him.

"Just barely," Jack said as he handed the worksheet to Shannon.

"Hey, it still counts," she said with a smile as she took the paper.

Jack moved to his seat and pulled out his book as Rousseau began talking about who knows what. All he needed in this class was a B, he reminded himself as he opened his notebook.


	16. Dr Linus

When French was finally over, Jack made his way to the library to sort books. He half expected Jacob to be waiting there for him. Right when he was about to push the door open, he heard someone call his name.

"Jack, wait!"

Jack turned to see Claire hurrying over to him.

"Hey Claire," he said with a small smile, "How are you?"

Claire smiled sweetly and tucked a curl behind her ear, "I was just wondering if you had time to talk?"

Jack looked back to the library, searching for Jacob, "Actually, I'm supposed to volunteer at the library today."

Her face fell.

"But you know, tomorrow we could go grab coffee or something," he paused remembering she probably shouldn't have coffee, "Or ice cream."

She smiled, "Yeah, that would be fine. Thanks, Jack."

"Any time."

He made his way into the library and didn't see any signs of anyone. Walking behind the counter, he slid his backpack onto the floor and made his way into the back room to see if the librarian Rose was back there.

"Mrs. Nadler?" he called.

"Hello, Jack." A voice said behind him.

Jack turned slowly and saw Ben walking up with a stack of books in his arms.

"Dr. Linus," Jack said as he moved backwards to let him through.

"Are you here to help me sort books today?"

"Um, yeah," he nodded, "I thought I'd be helping Mrs. Nadler?"

"Rose had to leave early and I usually am the one to take care of this department. The books we can't use are taken to the local library and I'm the one that takes them."

"Okay," Jack said with another nod.

Ben forced a smile and set the books on the table, "We can start with these."

"What are we looking for?" Jack asked.

"The condition. Are they marked up, torn, unusable, that sort of thing."

Jack picked up the first book and began flipping through it slowly.

"You can sit down, Jack, it may take us a while."

Jack put the book down and pulled up a chair across from his teacher.

"What about this Dr. Linus?" he asked after a few minutes of silence between them.

"It's fine. And you can call me Ben," he added.

Jack looked up hesitantly before looking back down at his book.

"Is everything okay, Jack?"

He looked up at Ben who had put the book down and was watching him closely.

"What?"

Ben pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "You seemed distressed in class today. In addition to the fact that you're here serving for detention made me think that something must be going on. Is something going on?"

"How did you know…?" Jack started.

"Teachers know a lot of things about their students, Jack."

Jack looked down at the table. He hated talking to anyone about anything, especially a creepy stranger.

"Just remember you're not alone, Jack, we're all in this together."

"What?" he said again, leaning forward.

Ben leaned back in his chair, confused, "I just said we're all in this together."

"Thanks," Jack said as he picked up his book.

After an hour of sorting, they had five books they couldn't use.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take them? I was headed for the library anyways."

Ben blinked a few times, calculating the best move.

"If you're sure."

"Yeah," Jack nodded, putting the books in his backpack. "I'm sure."

Ben moved to the back to arrange the books they had accepted, "I'll see you in class tomorrow then Jack."

Jack pulled the backpack on and made his way towards the door of the library. The halls were all empty, making the school seem creepy. As he walked outside he wondered if he should call his dad or just walk to the library. Walking seemed like the best choice. As he walked, he pulled on the shoulder straps of his backpack. It wouldn't take him too long to get to the library.


	17. Confirmed Read

Juliet was only half reading her book and half staring at the door of the library. After thirty minutes of staring into the distance, she saw Sawyer walk in. Immediately she shifted her view back down to her book, pretending to read.

"Whatcha reading there, Blondie?" Sawyer asked.

Juliet lowered the book only slightly to see Sawyer standing over her, hair falling in his face.

"It's for school."

Sawyer looking at the binding and smiled, both of them knowing it wasn't.

"Mind if I join you? I've got some studying to do of my own."

"What are you doing here anyways?" Juliet asked.

"Not enough time in the day to catch up with my reading, right?"

Juliet raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Sawyer, there aren't enough hours in the day for you to catch up with your reading."

He tried not to laugh, but didn't move from his spot in front of the table, "Maybe you're right."

"So what are you doing?"

"We don't have a computer at home," he said in all seriousness.

Juliet watched his face to try to determine if he was telling the truth.

"Have fun then Sawyer."

"We should get coffee sometime," he said, leaning into the table.

Juliet sat back in her chair.

"We could go dutch."

Juliet tried to smile, "Yeah, maybe some time we can."

Satisfied, Sawyer walked over to the computer terminals. Juliet became more focused than ever on reading her book. She actually began reading at one point and didn't notice how much time had passed.

"Mind if I join you?" Jack asked as he slid his backpack from his shoulder.

Juliet looked up and smiled. His hair was damp from sweat and she assumed had walked here from the school.

"Not at all."

Jack put the backpack on the chair next to her and pulled out a few books, "Hold on. I've got to take these to the front first. It shouldn't take long."

As he walked away, she couldn't help steal a glance at Sawyer. He had gotten up and looked her way quickly before heading out of the door.

Jack came back and pulled out his biology book, setting it on the desk.

"Jack," Juliet said slowly, "Do you want to talk about what happened? At the basketball game?"

Jack looked down at her like he wanted to, but couldn't. "There's nothing to say," he said finally.

He flipped the thin pages, "Chapter 17?" he asked.

"Yeah," Juliet said as she pulled out her own biology book, "Chapter 17."


	18. Exchangetown

"What did you say this was?" Christian asked.

"Exchange students. I've been asked to show one around the school to help adjust."

Christian looked at his son and wanted to tell him that he was proud that he was chosen to be a leader. He knew Jack was capable of so much more, if only he would try harder.

"Don't disappoint them."

Jack was trying to pull his backpack up from the floorboard of the car and looked over to his father at these words.

"I won't," he said with a shake of his head.

Jack climbed out of the front seat and watched his father pull away. The conversation had been considerably relaxed from the morning before and Jack hoped it was a sign of early release from prison. He hopped up the stairs and was greeted by Mr. Alpert.

"Jack," he said opening the door.

Jack watched him closely as the door was held open. Mr. Alpert smiled and waved him inside.

"Thank you," he said quietly as he walked towards the principal's office.

Sawyer was walking up from the other direction.

"Morning, Cap," he said with a nod as they reached the door.

They walked into the office and saw Juliet standing with three other students. They seemed normal enough.

"Jack, James," Jacob said. "I'd like you to meet Daniel, Miles and Charlotte."

Jack smiled and watched them carefully, "Nice to meet you"

Charlotte was the only one who attempted a forced smile. Miles stood as though he had somewhere else to be and Daniel appeared like he was already there.

"Jack, I'd like for you to show Daniel Faraday around the school for the day. James, you're going to be with Miles Straume. I think you'll have a lot in common."

After a few minutes of idle chatter, the students all left to go their separate ways. Jack and Daniel headed downstairs to Ms. Hawking's class.

"So you're from England? You don't sound like it," Jack said bluntly.

"Yeah," Daniel said, shifting his backpack. "Both of my parents are from there. I was going to a prep school there but they asked for this transfer so I could," he paused, "come here."

"Do you like it so far?"

"Oh, yes," he said with a smile, "Yeah, I like it a lot."

They made it to the door, "This is Ms. Hawking's class, Physics. Have you taken physics?"

Daniel made a light sound in combination of laugh and sigh, "Yeah, actually, I did in England."

They were the first ones in the class and Jack walked up to the teacher's desk to introduce the two.

"Hello Daniel," Ms. Hawking said.

"Hi, mom."

Jack turned with wide eyes to look at Daniel. Apparently there was more to Faraday than meets the eye.

Miles and Sawyer walked the halls in silence, each wondering what the other should say.

"So is this like the grand tour?" Miles said finally.

"You got it," Sawyer replied.

"Do you like it here?" Miles looked down the hall. "Seems kinda creepy."

"It grows on you," Sawyer said as they reached Sawyer's locker.

"Do I get a locker?"

"I don't know."

Miles stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets, "Some tour guide you are."

Sawyer smiled, "I think we're gonna be friends Enos."

Juliet tried to think of something to say to the red head walking next to her, "So do you like America so far?"

"It has some nice things."

She tried again, "I'm sure you'll like it once you get used to it,"

"Not likely," she said in her little British lilt.

_Snob_, Juliet thought. Abandoning all hopes of being nice, Juliet settled on decent as they continued towards Latin.

"My first class is Latin. Hope that's not too boring," she said sarcastically.

"Not at all," Charlotte replied as she pulled on her backpack straps.

Juliet almost stopped walking when Charlotte pushed past her and continued towards class. Had she been here before or something? She was almost relieved as they walked into the Latin class and made their way to sit down. Only seven more hours to go, Juliet thought.


	19. The Physicist

Daniel sat in a chair next to Jack's desk, since there were no empty spots and Miles had joined the class too. As Ms. Hawking began lecturing, Daniel set his notebook on his lap but didn't really pay attention. This was elementary stuff. He glanced around the room and noticed the look of panic on some of the kids faces. It was one of the many times he wished he could transfer some of his knowledge of physics to others. It's not like he really needed all that he had in his brain.

Before the class was over, Daniel had managed to solve four of the problems he could read from Jack's book. He considered asking Jack to borrow the book to see if he was right. The bell rang and he stood to wait for Jack.

"I'm Kate," the girl in front of them said.

"Kate," Daniel said quietly, "I'm Daniel, Daniel Faraday."

"Nice to meet you Daniel, Daniel Faraday."

Daniel breathed a laugh and stuck his hands in his pockets. Jack had swung his backpack on his back and looked from Daniel to Kate.

"How does it feel to not be the new kid any more?"

Kate smiled, "It feels pretty good. In fact," she said turning to Daniel, "If you need help I can help. I know how it feels to be new."

From the exchange of looks between Jack and Kate, she couldn't have been that new.

"Thanks," Daniel mumbled as they walked towards the door.

"See ya, Kate," Jack said with a slight wave as she headed the other direction.

"Girlfriend?" Daniel asked.

"What?"

"Sorry," Daniel raised his hands in protest. "Overstepping boundaries."

Daniel mentally kicked himself for blurting out the first observation he had. He was never good at talking with people and he was stuck with the great Jack Shephard, basketball captain.

"No," Jack said with a shake of his head, "It's not overstepping boundaries. I just wasn't expecting the question. No, she's not my girlfriend."

"Sorry," Daniel said again.

"If you don't mind my overstepping boundaries," Jack began, "Hawking is your mother?"

Daniel laughed his light breathy laugh again, wondering how Jack would react if he knew Widmore was his father.

"Yeah," I was going to school in England, but they worked it out so I could come here for a while to visit her.

"Why were you going to school in England?"

Daniel wondered if telling the truth was his best option right now. He hated telling other kids he was really smart. It always made them act weird around him. Part of him thought Jack wouldn't care, but he didn't know him that well.

"Just where I grew up," he said simply, hoping that would cut off any conversation.

They reached the door to the math class. Mr. Alpert stood outside watching the kids.

"Mr. Alpert," Jack started.

"Yes, Daniel. We've met."

Jack didn't seem very surprised and Richard gave Daniel instructions on where to sit.

"Is he your uncle?" Jack asked as they walked into the classroom.

Daniel was going to correct him when he realized he was trying to be funny. He laughed as he moved to his seat.

"So what do you do, Jack?"

Jack raised his eyebrows, "Um, well, study I guess."

"Jack," a voice came from behind him.

Jack turned to see Charlie walking towards him, "Hey Charlie."

"I heard you got a British student."

"I'm not exactly what you'd think of as a British student," Daniel said to the little guy with an accent.

"Wot?"

"Well, I mean, I'm more Americanized I guess."

"Still, you're from England right now and that's all that matters. Just wanted to say hi, from one Limey to another."

"Daniel," he said with a nod.

"I'm Charlie," he said with a goofy grin.

"Nice to meet you Charlie."

The lecture started and Jack buried himself in his book. It seemed that math was not his best subject. He didn't know very much about Jack other than what Jacob had told him. He seemed every bit the popular kid he figured he was. Daniel always seemed to get stuck with the most interesting people.

Class ended quickly and soon they were on the march again, looking for English this time.

"Do you like English?" Jack asked, reaching for anything.

"Not really," Daniel replied.

Kate walked up as they made their way up the stairs.

"Hey," she said to both Jack and Daniel.

"Kate," Jack said as he moved to make room.

"How's it going so far, Daniel?"

Daniel nodded, "I'm doing good. The school's nice."

Bot h Jack and Kate snickered, "You don't have to pretend to like this place ," Kate said.

"No, really, it's pretty nice."

"Right," Jack said with a grin as he pushed his backpack toward the door.

Daniel walked in to find Miles and Charlotte standing at the desk with the little teacher.

"You must be Daniel," Dr. Linus said energetically.

Daniel nodded, "Yes."

Charlotte looked over and raised her eyebrows.

Jack and Kate walked back to their desks as the three stayed up to talk to Dr. Linus. Jack let his backpack slide down to the ground and looked up at Kate.

"How's your day been?" he asked.

"Failed my Spanish test," she said with a smile, "But could be worse I guess."

Jack laughed lightly and looked up as Juliet walked from the front of the room to the back. She headed between the rows back to where she sat next to Sawyer.

"Hey Blondie," Sawyer said as he pulled out his tattered copy of Watership Down.

"Sawyer," she said as she sat in her chair with a huff.

"What's the matter? Got your Brit in a bundle?"

Juliet leaned over and lowered her voice, "She's rude. I tried to be nice, but I don't even care anymore."

"Yeah," Sawyer said as he propped his feet up, "Mine won't shut up."

The three new kids made their way to empty seats in the back. They were talking amongst themselves and Jack was glad he didn't have to entertain like a babysitter. He would be glad when they were allowed to go their own ways. Not that he didn't like Daniel, it was just more awkward than he thought it would be.

Jack leaned over to Kate's desk, "Daniel is Hawking's son."

"What?" she hissed and tried not to look back.

Jack nodded with a slight smile.

"Maybe his dad is Linus," she whispered.

Jack tried not to laugh as he focused in on his copy the novel. Dr. Linus has already started talking about warrens and Jack couldn't pay attention. The lunch bell couldn't come soon enough.


	20. Latest Hits

A/N Thanks for all the great reviews! Leave comments and say what you want to see happen next! This chapter was inspired by The Bangkok 5 who finished and recorded a finished version of Charlie's song "Saved". It's amazing and you should check it out on youtube!

Kate fell into step with Jack as they walked towards the lunch room. She went into another line and Daniel followed him into the hamburger line.

"Hey Jack," Sun said with a smile.

"Sun,"

Sun looked at Faraday uneasily, "I'm Sun,"

"Daniel."

"Nice to meet you," she said as convincingly as she could.

She raised her eyebrows where only Jack could see. He tried to shake his head unnoticeably.

"How's your garden coming?"

Sun's eyes beamed with pride. It had been her initiative to start a Go Green program at the school by growing things in the community garden.

"Oh it's great. The tomatoes are finally starting to grow," she said.

Jack smiled at her pride, "I think it's great, what you've done to help everyone get involved."

Sun just kept smiling as they moved down the line.

"Thanks, Jack."

Jack turned to mention something to Daniel when he noticed he was gone.

"Where'd…?"

"Don't you think he's kind of weird, Jack? Him and the other two. They seem, strange."

"Just because they're from another place doesn't make them strange," Jack said, unfocused.

He scanned the lunchroom and couldn't see Daniel's little frame.

"Why would he just walk off?"

"There he is," Sun said, pointing.

Jack followed her finger to Desmond Hume. He was standing by the door, patiently listening to Daniel. As Jack moved to catch him, he slipped out of the room. Desmond had turned to throw something away by the time Jack met him with a smile.

"Jack," he grinned.

"Mr. Hume, where did Daniel go?"

"The restroom. He said he wasn't feeling well. Why?"

"I'm supposed to be showing him around the school."

"I see," he said with another grin, "Maybe you should go catch him then."

"Yeah," Jack said with a nod.

"Time should never be wasted, Jack."

"Right,"

Jack hurried out of the cafeteria catching Kate's eye as she sat down at the table. She gave him a weird look, but he was already down the hall. He found Daniel in the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think so," he said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"I think so."

"Do you want some food? Or go see the nurse?"

Daniel shook his head and began walking out the door. Jack followed and when they got into the hall, he pulled on his arm.

"What is going on?"

"Do you ever get the feeling like you've been here before?"

Jack winced, "Like déjà vu?"

Daniel shook his head, "Not exactly, more like, you've actually been here before. Seeing these people, going to these classes?"

"No." Jack answered simply.

"Never mind." Daniel said with a smile, "I must just be remembering wrong."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Daniel pushed that smile again, "Of course."

Kate and Sawyer were in a conversation when they re-entered the lunch room. Jack realized he hadn't gotten any food, but he wasn't really hungry anyways. Daniel's words kept repeating in his mind that he had been there before, doing those things. What does that even mean? Kate looked up with a smile as they sat down. Daniel, Charlotte and Miles were sitting at one end of the table talking together. Juliet scooted over so Jack could sit next to her.

Juliet offered him her bag of chips and Jack took it with a smile. Kate looked away awkwardly, hoping Jack wouldn't notice. When the bell rang, they all stood to go to class. Sawyer barely turned before running into Miles.

"What's next boss?" he said sarcastically.

Kate tried to hide a snicker.

"Art," he said as he pulled on his backpack.

The next hours passed quickly for Jack even after the awkward exchange with Daniel. As he headed towards the gym, he realized Faraday probably wasn't wanting to run around for basketball practice.

"Hey," he started, "I've got basketball practice next. You can sit and watch if you'd like or…" he trailed off not knowing what a viable option would be.

"Is there, like, a music class?" Daniel asked quietly.

"Yeah, actually, it's right around the corner from the gym."

As they walked in the class, Jack made his way to the teacher's office to ask him if it was alright for Daniel to join, Daniel idled by the door. He heard someone playing the piano in one of the practice rooms.

He moved down the row of rooms to find out who it was. Through the glass door, he saw the boy Charlie playing the piano and singing just loud enough for him to hear.

"_Funny now, you finally see me standing here. Funny now, I'm crying in the rain. All alone,"_

He stopped and fixed a chord before starting over again. The chords were repetitive, but still sounded good together.

Daniel opened the door slowly, "Charlie?"

He turned around quickly, almost embarrassed at being heard.

"That was a great song," he said as he moved inside the practice room.

"Thanks," Charlie said hesitantly, "I wrote it."

"Really?"

Charlie nodded, "Can't think of a good title though. And it's not completely finished."

"Can you play it again?"

"Sure."

Charlie turned back to the old piano and adjusted his fingers before starting the song over again.

"_Funny now,_ _you finally see me standing here. Funny now, I'm crying in the rain. All alone, I try to be invincible. Together now, we can be saved. Together now, we can be saved._"

He stopped playing and turned back to Faraday, "Well, that repeats, but that's all I've got so far."

Daniel nodded with a smile, "That sounds great. I really like it. I play piano too."

Charlie grinned, "Right on man. You should sign up for the talent show."

"Are you?"

Charlie looked as though he had thought about it for the first time, "Oh, I haven't decided."

"Maybe we could play something together then."

Charlie swiveled all the way around, "Sounds great, mate. I'm in."

A knock at the door made them both jump. Daniel stood up to greet Jack. He cracked the door open to tell Faraday that Horace said it was okay for him to stay for the hour.

"If you need anything I'll be in practice. Or Charlie can help you," he added.

Charlie nodded, "I'm on it."

Jack made his way out to the gym and stuck his hands in his pockets. When he got there, the boys were already running drills. Boone gave a quick nod as he trotted from one end of the room to the other. Locke stood in the middle blowing his whistle. When he saw Jack walk in, he blew the whistle and raised his hands.

"Alright boys, head outside for 8 laps around the track."

Jack stopped where he was as the boys headed for the door and Locke came straight for him. Jack planted his feet, waiting for a confrontation.

"Sit down, Jack." was all Locke said.

Jack made his way to the bleachers and Locke came to stand behind him.

"What's going on?" Locke said as he crossed his arms. "You didn't even show up yesterday and today you show up late. This isn't still about the game, is it?"

"No," Jack shook his head, "No it's not. Yesterday I had to go sort books in the library and today I was showing another kid around the school, it wasn't intentional, coach."

"Jack," Locke sat down next to him, "I believe in you, Jack. And sometimes I see you struggle and I think maybe you don't believe in yourself. But if you don't start putting forth the effort needed, I'm going to ask you to leave the team."

Jack nodded, "I understand."

"Now, I'm going to ask you again, what is going on?"

Jack looked him straight in the eye, "Nothing."

Locke's concern grew on his face as he moved his mouth to one corner.

"Don't ever let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do."

"Thanks, coach."

Locke stood, "Now, ready to go run?"

"Always,"

Jack jogged off towards the door and into the heat of the afternoon. Jack pushed himself to catch up with the pack of guys and slid into place next to Boone. Jack loved running because it allowed him to clear his mind and organize what exactly needed to be done. It was only then he remembered he had made plans to go grab a drink with Claire after school. He wasn't sure what class she had last period. He wondered if Charlie would know, he did want to go say bye to Daniel after all.


	21. Ice plus Cream

21.

Jack found Charlie talking with Daniel in the hall outside the music room.

"Hey," he said as he walked up.

"Ey," Charlie said as he played with the zipper on his jacket.

"How was class, Daniel?" he asked.

"Oh," he said quietly, "It was good."

They stood awkwardly for a few minutes before Charlie acted like he was going to walk away.

"Well, if you blokes won't be needing me anymore. I've got some practicing to do," he said as he started to turn.

"Charlie, wait," Jack called, "Do you know where Claire is?"

He tried to act nonchalant about it, but even Daniel could tell something was up, "Oh, I believe she has Latin, last hour."

"Ok, thanks."

Jack began walking back down the big hallway towards the other wing of the school.

"I don't mean to just follow you around, Jack, but I'm not exactly sure where I'm supposed to be going."

"Right," Jack said. "Are you going home with your mom?"

"It's possible,"

"Well, her classroom is right down those stairs," he said, pointing.

"Thanks for everything, Jack," he said as he walked away.

Jack resumed his march towards Latin, his backpack slung across his shoulder. Without paying attention to where he was going, he ran right into Kate.

"Oh," he said with a smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't even see you."

She smiled and tossed her wavy hair behind her shoulder, "No harm, no foul."

"Um, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Sure," she said with a smile, "I bet you will."

Jack pulled on the strap of his backpack and wondered why every time he was around Kate every possible thought flew out of his head. As he walked down the hall, he began scanning the place for Claire. He found her talking with Hurley by a locker.

"I'll see you dudes later," Hurley said, as he shut the locker and slung his book bag over his shoulder.

"Later Hurley," Claire said in her innocent little voice.

"Hey, Claire," he said nicely, "Did you still want to hang out?"

"Jack," she said happily, "Of course. You ready now?"

He thought about the fact that he still didn't have his car.

"Did you by any chance drive to school?"

She nodded.

"Would you mind driving?"

She laughed, "No problem,"

"I don't have my car right now."

Raising an eyebrow she sensed a deeper story but didn't pry, "There's an ice cream shop down the street. I'm really craving some ice cream right now."

He smiled, "Lead the way."

It was a quick drive to the little shop. Claire took ten minutes to decide what flavor to get because everything sounded amazing.

"You wouldn't happen to have pickles, would you?" she asked sweetly.

The teen behind the counter gave her a weird look and shook his head. She didn't really feel pregnant, but she could tell something was off. Every morning she stood in front of the mirror, staring at her stomach to see if she could tell, but so far, she couldn't. And if she couldn't, she was sure no one else could yet either. Jack paid for them both and grabbed hers too so she wouldn't have to carry it.

They sat at a table across from each other. Jack with his double dip of chocolate and Claire with her massive banana split.

"You haven't gained very much weight," Jack said, concerned, "Have you told your doctor?"

"I haven't really been to the doctor yet," she confessed.

"Claire," he said, using his future doctor tone, "You really need to go to the doctor. They'll be able to tell you what the healthy growth is, give you extra vitamins and make sure nothing's wrong. You've already fainted once and-"

"That was from the heat," she interjected.

"Whatever it was from, you really need to make sure everything's alright."

"Okay, dad," she said sarcastically.

"Really, Claire," he remained stern.

"I will, I promise."

He took another bite of his ice cream which was melting quicker than he could eat it.

"Are you giving the baby up?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said after a long pause, "I just want someone to talk to about it. You're the only one at school that knows."

He nodded as he took another bite, "What do you think would be best for the baby? Can you go to school and have someone watch the baby?"

"I don't know."

"Have you thought about abortion?"

She shook her head, "I can't. A part of me wants this baby. I know that everything happens for a reason. Don't you think?"

He debated on what best to say, "Honestly, not really. I think sometimes, things just happen."

She watched him closely, "I think you're wrong, Jack."

He laughed, "So do a lot of people. The important thing is you do what's best for you. Do your parents know?"

"It's just my mom," she said softly, "My dad has never been around."

"I'm sorry," Jack said, unsure of what to say next, "Maybe you're lucky, though. No dad is better than an awful one."

"Maybe," she said as she spooned in some ice cream with a smile. "I haven't told my mum yet."

"Oh."

Jack had finished half of his cone, and was trying to eat it quickly before making a mess everywhere.

"You know," he ventured, "Charlie sure does think a lot of you."

Claire tried not to blush, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know," he said with a laugh, " I nearly got attacked just asking what your last class was. If he knew we were hanging out, I'd have to watch my back."

"Jack!" she said, "knock it off."

Jack laughed, glad he could get her onto lighter subjects.

"He asked me to prom, but I told him I didn't want to go."

"Do you?" he asked between bites.

"Maybe just a little. But I thought he would think prom is stupid."

"He's the one that asked," he said, this time with a mouth full of food.

"Well," she said a high pitched squeak.

"Maybe you could casually bring it up sometime."

She nodded as she took a big bite, "We'll see."

Jack finished his cone, "You might have a good time, who knows."

"Are you going to prom?" she asked, with a smile.

"Probably," he replied.

"With who?" she drew out the whoooo.

He laughed, "I don't know."

"I'm probably not supposed to say anything," she said as she looked down at her ice cream, "But rumor has it that the new girl doesn't have anyone to go with,"

"I'll keep that in mind," he pointed at her ice cream with his napkin, "Eat up."


	22. Abandon

22.

Claire stood outside the door to the animal shelter, arms crossed. She specifically told Charlie to be there at 10 and it was already past that. She wondered if he had gotten into a wreck or something. If she was being stood up, that would be it. There would definitely be no prom.

"Claire?" one of the workers asked, "Are you going to help us?"

"I was waiting for my friend," she said, scanning the parking lot again.

Nothing.

"I'm sure he'll call though, if he gets here," she said as she turned back into the room.

When she told them that she was bringing a friend, they assigned her and Charlie to do baths, but with Charlie out, they needed someone to cover the desk too. Claire was glad to have a job where she could sit.

She was sitting at the desk, doodling with her pen. She kept writing the name Aaron. She had decided if it was a boy, she was going to name him Aaron. For some reason, she had always loved that name.

"Is that the name of your boyfriend?" a man asked on the other side of the counter.

"What?" she said, startled.

She hadn't noticed anyone walk up. Looking at the man, there was something about him that bothered her.

"I just saw you writing that name, I asked if it was your boyfriend. Just joking, sweetheart."

"Are you Australian?"

He laughed, "Another Aussie, eh? Well we've got to stick together."

"Do you want a pet?"

"Ah, no, actually, my wife is here and I'm supposed to pick her up."

"What's your name?" Claire asked.

"Malkin, Richard Malkin."

"Oh, Joyce?" she asked.

"That's the one," he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Let me go get her," Claire said.

She turned to go back into the back room where Joyce was likely putting newspaper in the cages.

"Joyce," she called, "Your husband is here,"

"Tell him I'll be there in a bit," she said.

Claire made her way back to the front desk, "She said she'd be out in a minute."

"Great," the man said not moving from his post.

"Can I help you with something else?"

"Have you ever had your palms read?"

Claire laughed, "No, actually, I haven't."

"I'm a psychic is why I ask."

"I don't know-" she started, pulling away.

"Just for fun," he said.

"Okay," she conceded, "Why not?"

She held out her hands, and watched the guy look over them.

"Oh," he said suddenly, "I'm-"

"What?" she asked, pulling her hands away.

"I think Aaron is a lovely name," he said, completely serious.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

She jumped as Joyce entered from the other room, "All done. Ready to go?"

"Of course."

Claire watched them leave and felt a chill down her back. Grabbing her phone, she checked to see if Charlie had sent her a text. He hadn't. She crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash can under the desk.

"Boys are stupid," she mumbled to herself.


	23. The 23rd Chapter

A/N: It's been so long since I've updated! Arg, I know. I had the worst writer's block with this story trying to figure out how to connect one piece to another. But I think I've got it and I'm pretty close to getting all the pieces put together. Thanks for the reads, please review! Btw, I still don't own LOST.

23. Claire pulled into the parking lot and glanced around. She had gone over several versions of the conversation, most of them concluding with "Why didn't you show up?" But in her mind, none of them sounded good enough. She had gotten over the mad part and was now just verging on being annoyed.

She killed the engine and got out, pulling her backpack over her shoulder. Making her way towards the door, she kept her eyes towards the ground.

"Hey Claire," Kate said as she walked up next to her.

"Hey," she said with a small smile.

"How was your weekend?"

Claire tried to remain neutral as she said, "Oh, it was great."

Kate noticed the forced happiness, but wasn't sure if she should pry, "That's good."

"See you later," Claire said as she turned to go down the hall the minute they were in the building.

Kate looked up to see Jacob standing outside his office, watching her. He smiled, prompting her to head down the stairs to her class. She met Sawyer walking the other direction on the half floor that stopped between the two flights of stairs.

"Mornin'," he said as he approached.

"Hey," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her head.

"Are you going to the talent show next week?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied, "I hadn't really thought about it."

"Do you have any talents?"

"Do you?" she said in a quiet voice.

He grinned and continued walking toward their class, "Maybe I do. Maybe I just don't want anyone to know it."

"I'll make you a deal," she said getting as close to him as she could to whisper in his ear.

"Aw, hell no," he said with a laugh.

"I think so," she said as she moved towards the class. "You know you want to."

"We'll see about that, Freckles."

He moved up behind her and pushed her into the class room, Kate laughing the whole way. Juliet was walking behind them on her way to her first class and saw them goofing off. There was something about Sawyer she just couldn't figure out. He was pretending to be someone he wasn't all the time and she wondered what had happened to make him so defensive. He wondered what he really felt about Kate. Something deep down made her think that was an act too.

Hugging her books next to her chest, she made her way to her first hour. She had been meaning to talk to Sawyer lately, things had seemed weird between them. Sawyer came up to her after school last week and asked if she was dating Jack. That was really strange. Making her way into Latin, she sat down at her desk and pulled out her workbook.

Latin seemed really easy to her and she had no problem figuring out all the prefixes and suffixes. In fact, she saw how much it helped her in studying her biology. Her teacher, Mikhail as he wanted to be called, started talking about the grammar lesson for the day. The guy gave Juliet the creeps with his weird accent and funny eye patch. Nevertheless, he knew languages really well.

"Before we begin," he said, "I have an extra credit joke for you all. If you can write a funny response in Latin and turn it in by Wednesday, you'll get ten extra points on your test for Friday. The beginning of the joke is: "Quid est aliud dicere vir nivis?"

Juliet copied the phrase onto her paper and began translating while Mikhail began the lecture. What did the man of snow say to another? She smiled as she began thinking of a funny answer that involved carrots. Hopefully Mikhail would find it funny.

As soon as the bell rang, she hurried out of the class because her next class was all the way across the building. In the hallway, she ran into a little blonde girl accidentally.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said in an Australian accent as they picked up each other's books.

"No harm, no foul?" Juliet replied as she dashed off.

Claire watched the tall blonde run off before she realized she had her biology book. Sighing, Claire kept moving towards her math class. Just one more thing she needed this morning.

She continued to rehearse the cold treatment she was going to give Charlie when he came up to apologize over and over for bailing on her. He was probably out with some other girl or something.

As she walked into the class room, she walked in next to Jack.

"Hey, Claire," he said with a half-smile.

She went at sat at her desk where there was already a note with her name written on it. She unfolded it carefully and read Charlie's handwriting.

"Dear Claire," it read, "I feel like such an idiot. I went to the wrong animal shelter and there was a Claire that worked there so I thought I was in the right place. She showed up two hours later and when I realized it wasn't you, Claire, then I was going to call you to tell you what happened. I didn't have your number because it washed off my hand. I don't know if you'll believe that, but really it's what happened. I did enjoy helping at the shelter though, the dogs there were so great. If you still want to talk to me, I'd love to help you next week? Please?"

Claire couldn't help but smile and knew Charlie was watching the back of her head. Mr. Alpert closed the door as the class settled down to start their work.

Claire pulled out an extra sheet of paper and tried to nonchalantly write back to Charlie.

"Charlie, I'm glad you had a good time. I forgot you were going to come, so no harm, no foul. I should be working this weekend, if you want to stop by you can."

She folded it over and put it under her folder to give it to him during lunch. She turned back to her notebook and began copying the practice problems from the board.


	24. Man of Science, Man of Fate

24. Jack felt the day crawling by. It was the first day he had his car back and he knew it was going so slow because he was more than ready to drive it after school. He didn't even have anywhere to go, but he would drive it regardless just to feel the freedom of going when he wanted.

After a longer than normal lunch, Jack made his way into the biology room. Desmond was sitting at the computer staring intently. Jack couldn't quite figure out that guy. He walked down the aisle to where Juliet was sitting.

"Hey," he said as he slid into the seat.

"You've got to see this."

She pulled out an old yearbook from her backpack.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

"I kind of stole it from the library," she said with a grin.

"You stole it?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I'm a library aid and I was sorting through old yearbooks and I saw this and had to show you. I can return it tomorrow, calm down."

Jack pushed his backpack under the chair, "Okay, so what is it you want to show me?"

"Okay," she began flipping through the pages until she found the faculty section, "Check out this picture."

Juliet pointed to a little picture with the name Benjamin Linus on it. The picture was definitely Linus, just much younger. Jack gave her a funny look, "That's really funny."

"Yeah, but that's not what I wanted to show you. You just need a comparison. See how young he looks, now, look at this," she flipped a page until she found the picture of Richard Alpert.

"What?" Jack asked, pulling the picture closer.

The picture looked as though it had been taken yesterday.

"He looks the same," Juliet whispered.

"That's really weird." Jack agreed. "Is there a picture of Jacob?"

She flipped through the beginning but the principal was listed as a Dr. Hanso.

"Hm, must have been before he got here."

"What about Hawking and Locke?"

"No," Juliet replied as she closed the book and put it back in her backpack. "I looked through all the pictures, but they were the only ones that still work here."

"Hm."

Desmond had turned on the projector and was putting the slides of different types of cells on the overhead.

"Crap," Juliet whispered as she dug through her backpack.

"What's wrong?" Jack leaned over to her.

"I ran into this little Australian girl this morning and must have dropped my biology book."

"Claire?"

"I don't know. Blonde? Had an accent? You know her?"

"Yeah, I have math with her."

"Can you ask her if she has my book?"

"Sure, here, look off mine," he slid his book to the center of the table and looked up as Desmond was looking over at them.

Jack and Juliet grew quiet as they began taking notes on the lecture. Jack couldn't seem to focus on the cell types. His whole brain had been scattered all day. When the lights finally came on and the bell run, Jack realized he hadn't taken hardly any notes.

"See ya," Juliet said with a smile as she pulled on her backpack straps.

"Yeah, see ya."

Jack stuffed his notebook back in his backpack and pulled his jacket over his t-shirt. Making his way towards the front of the room, Desmond looked up from his desk.

"Jack," Desmond called, "Could I see you for a minute?"

The room had emptied out mostly, and he headed towards his desk.

"I saw this the other day and thought maybe you would be interested."

He picked up a pamphlet off his desk and handed it to Jack. Jack turned it over in his hands. "Get hands on experience" it read.

"What is this?" Jack asked.

"It's a training program for recent graduates who are considering a path in medicine. I thought it might be good experience for you to see if this is really what you want to do with your life."

"It's in Australia." Jack said flatly.

"It'd be an adventure," Desmond said with a smile.

Jack set the flier back on his desk, "I don't know if I want that kind of adventure right now."

Desmond picked the brochure back up and placed it in Jack's hands.

"At least apply for it."

"Why?" he asked.

"Who knows, brother," Desmond said with a smile, "It might just be your destiny."

Jack laughed, "I don't believe in that Mr. Hume."

Jack turned around to walk out of the classroom, but he kept the brochure tight in his hand. Walking towards his next class, he couldn't wait for this day to be over.


	25. Talk for the Road

25. Claire pulled her books out of her backpack and shoved them into her locker. She groaned when she realized she had taken that other girl's book. She looked at the cover to find the name. Juliet Burke. Now if only she could find out who Juliet Burke was.

"Claire?" Jack said next to her suddenly.

Claire screamed and dropped the book.

"Whoa, calm down," he said, reaching down to get the book, "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to scare you."

Claire laughed lightly, "No, I just didn't even see you there. Hi, Jack."

"My friend Juliet asked me to ask you if you had her bio book, but I think this is it in my hands?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Wow, yeah, I just was wondering how I was going to figure out how to get that to her."

"Well, worry no more. I'll take it for you."

"Thanks, Jack. That would help a lot."

"No problem. Are you leaving?"

"Yep," she pulled on her jacket and shut her locker.

"I'll walk with you. So," he started nervously, "Have you made an appointment yet?"

"Almost," she insisted.

"Claire, really, this is important."

"I know, Jack. Please. Just let me do it on my time."

Tempted to stress the importance of having everything monitored monthly, he knew the statistics wouldn't sway Claire.

"Do you want someone to go with you?" Jack asked.

"To the doctor?"

"Yeah. If you're uncomfortable with me, I know someone who would be quiet about it all and willing to help."

"Who?" she said as she kept walking towards the front.

"Kate," Jack said with a sideways glance.

"Kate? Are you sure?"

"I think so. I can ask if you want."

"I don't know, Jack. That seems a little weird. I think you're just trying to make sure I go."

"That obvious? I'll have to work on my bedside manner, I guess."

Claire laughed, "Listen, I know it's just because you want to do the right thing and yeah, honestly, I would kinda like to have someone there. Could you talk to her maybe?"

Jack nodded, "Of course. Just take care of yourself. I'll see you tomorrow, Claire."

He headed downstairs towards his own locker. Shoving Juliet's book inside, he grabbed what he needed and made his way towards the entrance of the school.

Sliding into his seat, it felt good to be able to drive again. He pulled out onto the road and it wasn't long before he saw Kate Austen herself, walking home. With a brief sense of déjà vu he crawled along the side and rolled the window down.

"Need a ride?" he called.

"Sure," she agreed as she pulled the door open.

The car behind them honked and he tried to wave as he took off.

"Thanks," she said with a smile, pushing her hair back behind her.

"I can give you a ride any time you need one," he said earnestly.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Actually," he started and realized he didn't know exactly what to say, "I kind of had something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Claire, um, this sounds crazy, but Claire, she wants someone to go to the doctor with her and I thought maybe you could go and help her."

"Why does she need to go to the doctor?"

"She's pregnant."

"Oh," Kate said, surprised.

"But no one is supposed to know that."

"Oh."

"And I thought maybe you could, you know, talk to her or something. She needs someone just to listen to and you seem like a good listener."

Kate nodded slowly and looked out of the widow, "I don't know, Jack. That seems a little personal doesn't it? I mean, I don't really know her that well."

Jack nodded, trying to think of the best way to respond, "If you don't want to that's fine. I can go. I just want to make sure she actually goes."

Kate sat in silence, looking out the window, "No, I can do it. I'll tell her. How else do you get to know someone, right? Besides spending time with them?"

Jack tried to laugh lightly but it came out like a sigh, "Thanks Kate."

"You can drop me off here," she said suddenly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile, "I'm sure."

"Okay," he pulled over and let the car idle.

He thought about what Claire said with prom. Maybe Kate would go with him, if he would just ask.

Kate lingered as long as she could, waiting for him to say something else. When he didn't, she turned toward him.

"Well, thanks again Jack. I'll talk to Claire."

"Right."

She climbed out of the car and the door shut behind her.

"Bye Kate," he said quietly.


	26. Asked by Another

26. Kate forced herself to head towards the English class. The day had felt as slow as it possibly could. Mentally she was keeping a strict countdown until graduation and then freedom. It was a thought that made her walk a little easier. When she entered the class, Dr. Linus was messing with the television. No telling what he was trying to do there.

Kate made her way to her seat and saw Juliet talking with Jack. He was laughing at something she said and her arched brow made Kate wonder if Juliet thought her joke was pretty clever too. Quickly, she moved to sit down and threw her backpack on the ground seconds before the bell rang.

"Alright class, today as a special treat to wrap up Watership Down, we're going to watch the 1958 film version. Don't be too excited; there will be a brief quiz afterwards so make sure you take some notes. Just give me a minute. If you can't see, move towards the front."

Dr. Linus pushed some buttons before the tape finally began playing. Kate pulled out a piece of paper to take notes when Sawyer moved into the seat in front of her. Linus rushed over to turn out the lights and then rushed back to his desk, obviously the only one excited about watching the film.

"What are you doing?" Kate whispered.

"He said if you can't see move."

"What?" Kate asked.

"I can't see," Sawyer said a little louder.

"Quiet," Dr. Linus called as he turned back to the screen.

Kate began using her paper to take notes:

_What are you doing?_

She passed it to Sawyer.

_I can't see Freckles. You got a problem with that?_

Trying not to laugh, she wrote back:

_Sorry I didn't know. Get some glasses._

He took the paper and his shoulders hunched in a laugh. Scribbling, he passed it back:

_Can't distract from my baby blues._

Jack tore off a slip from his notebook and wrote something before passing it to Juliet.

_I forgot, I have your Biology book, Claire gave it to me._

Juliet squinted in the dark before writing her reply:

_That's great. I'll get it after this movie, if I survive. Do you think Linus would believe it if I staged cardiac arrest right here?_

Jack smiled in the dark and replied:

_If that happened, you would need someone to help you get to the hospital. I'll volunteer. Should be an easy escape._

She thought for a minute before handing it over:

_How nice of you Jack, always willing to help out when needed._

Kate put the piece of paper on Sawyer's shoulder.

_That's true. Couldn't have any of that._

Sawyer took the paper and wrote a few seconds before sliding it across her desk.

_I've been thinking, Freckles. I'll take up your dare on the talent show on one condition. _

Kate smiled.

_Condition? You have conditions? What is it?_

Sawyer smiled.

_You let me take you to prom._

Kate hesitated.

_Hm, I guess I don't have much a choice._

Sawyer debated.

_Unless you've already had some other offer?_

Kate confessed.

_No. None._

Sawyer grinned.

_Then it's settled. Might even be fun._

Kate slid the note under her notebook and managed to write a sentence or two for the quiz. Graduation, she thought, graduation.


	27. A Tale of two Tables

A/N Everything just keeps unfolding in my mind how I want the story to continue and it's getting longer and longer! I really hope I can finish Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming!

27. Juliet noticed Kate following behind her and Jack towards the cafeteria. She also noticed Sawyer slowing down to move behind them and talk to Kate. Jack wasn't paying attention to anything as he kept walking toward the cafeteria. Biting the corner of her lip, she quickened her pace to put space in between the two groups.

When they finally made their way into the cafeteria, Kate disappeared from the end of the group. Juliet started to scan the room to see where she was, but figured it wasn't worth her effort.

"What are you getting?" she asked.

"I think I want a hot dog," Sawyer said from her other side.

"I wasn't talking to you, James, but that sounds pretty good."

"After you," Sawyer said with a sweep of his hand.

Laughing they made their way towards the hot dogs, they left Jack standing aimlessly.

"Feels like I haven't talked to you in a while," Sawyer said as he edged toward the line.

"That could be because you haven't," she said with a grin.

"And why is that?" he said, blocking her way to the food.

"I don't know, James, why is that?"

"And why are you callin' me James?" he asked, scooting closer.

"It's your name. What do you want to be called?"

She stepped around him and got a hot dog, moving forward in the line.

"Hey," he called out, "Blondie."

She turned, one eyebrow arched. Sawyer stood in the line watching her.

"Move," a sharp command came from behind him.

Sawyer looked back to see Jin, from his English class.

"Hold it, Mr. Miyagi, I'm talking here."

"Well talk and walk," Jin motioned as he tried to reach for a hot dog.

Juliet was laughing as she got her id card back, "See you at the table, James."

Sawyer didn't think it was too funny as he dug for his wallet. As Juliet walked to the table they had all started sitting at, she noticed where Kate had finally ended up. She was talking to the little Australian girl she had run into the other day.

"Jack talked to me about everything."

"He did?" Claire asked, looking awkwardly at her tray.

"Listen," Kate said as she sat down, "I know this must be really hard for you. And I really would like to help any way I can. I know _nothing_ about having a baby, but I'm willing to be there if you need someone."

Claire smiled as she looked up, "Thanks, Kate. I really think I would like someone there, just so I know I'm not alone, you know?"

"Claire," Kate touched her arm, "You're never alone. We're all in this together."

The corner of Claire's mouth folded into a smile as she nodded, "Thanks. My appointment is next week, if you can come."

"Of course."

Kate stood up and began walking off before she turned around, "Hey, you wanna come join our table?"

Claire smiled, "Sure. Thanks."

Charlie walked up as they were walking over, "Hey, mind if I join?"

"Come on," Kate said with a smile.

Kate walked up to the table and announced who they were. Claire sat across the table from Juliet.

"We've met actually," Juliet said with a smile. "We ran into each other just the other day."

Claire smiled, "Yeah, I remember that. Did you ever get your book?"

"Yep, Jack gave it to me."

At the sound of his name, Jack looked down the table where Juliet was sitting and talking to Claire. Charlie sat on the other side of Claire and looked up with a nod when they saw each other. Shannon and Boone came up, arguing about something and joined the group.

Charlie stood up suddenly and waved to someone. Hurley came walking over to the table.

"Hey, dude, why are you sitting over here?"

Charlie shrugged and made room for him to sit, "You all everybody, this is Hurley."

Hurley raised his hand in greeting though he already knew most of them. He wanted to lean over and ask Charlie since when did he start sitting with the cool kids.

"Well, I gotta go," Hurley said, standing up. "Thanks you guys."

Surprised, everyone looked up, as he hurried away.

"What's with him?" Sawyer asked.

Charlie just shrugged and turned back to his conversation with Juliet as he shoved another bite of corn in his mouth.

Hurley hurried out of the cafeteria and sat at one of the benches. Pulling an Apollo bar out of his backpack, he knew this would have to do for lunch.

"What are you doing out here, Hurley?"

Sun sat down next to him.

"Just eating my lunch."

"Outside?" she smiled.

"I don't know. Charlie and Claire were sitting with Jack and Sawyer and Kate."

"And?"

"Sawyer hates me," Hurley said seriously.

Sun laughed, "I doubt he hates you,"

"Dude," Hurley started, "In fifth grade, I dropped my ranch dressing in his lap at lunch and ever since then he's really got it out for me."

Sun laughed again, "Hurley, I think you're being silly. That was a long time ago."

"Well, he's never wanted us to sit with him before, I don't know why he's started now."

"How about this," she said looking up at the clock, "tomorrow you sit with them and I'll sit with you. I know Jack. If they say anything, I'll get up and leave with you. Deal?"

Hurley smiled, "Okay, deal."

Sun got up and walked back into the cafeteria to leave Hurley munching on his Apollo bar. She'd see how things went tomorrow.


	28. Somebody Hates Hugo

"Hugo, you're going to be late!"

The yell drifted towards him in a mix of haze and sleep. His eyes opened to the bright sun which was the first sign this wasn't going to go good. The sun wasn't supposed to be up when he got up.

Rolling over, he looked at the alarm clock. It was completely black.

"Oh no," he started as he fell off the bed and looked at the outlet.

It had been unplugged.

"Oh no," he moved towards his closet and pulled the closest shirt over his head.

Pulling on some pants, he stuffed his wallet and pencils in his pockets before heading for the door.

"Hugo, you need some breakfast!" his mother called from the kitchen.

"No time ma!" he yelled as he grabbed his backpack and ran for the door.

Locking the door behind him, he turned just in time to see the bus go by.

"Oh no!" he yelled.

Taking off, he chased after the big bus which made no effort to slow down. Turning the corner, he huffed his way towards the open door.

"Wait!" he called to one of the kids getting on the bus.

Pushing as hard as he could, he continued to run. The kid had turned to look at him a few minutes before climbing on the bus.

"No wait!"

Almost there, Hurley gave everything he had to reach the steps of the bus.

"Thank you," he gasped to the driver as he pulled himself on the bus.

He sat down in the bench, sweaty and uncomfortable. Pulling out his iPod, he stuck the headphones over his mass of hair and turned on his music. They reached the entrance to the subdivision when the music stopped.

"What?" he mumbled as he glanced at the iPod just in time to see the battery symbol.

Stuffing it back in his backpack, he stared out the window, realizing it was going to be one of those days.

Getting to school didn't help matters much, he realized he left his report at home for first hour, smashed his hand in his locker second hour and failed a test in his third hour. By lunch, he wanted nothing more than to sit and peacefully enjoy his food, until he remembered the deal he had made with Sun.

_Maybe she'll forget,_ he thought.

There was no such luck for Hurley though. As soon as he had gotten his tray, he turned and nearly fell over Sun.

"Hurley, come on, let's go sit down."

"Do we really have to do this?" he asked. "I mean, there are tons of perfectly fine tables."

"Yeah," she started, "But Charlie's at that one."

She motioned with her head to where Charlie had already gone to sit by Kate.

"Of course," he mumbled.

"Hey," Sun started when they got to the table, "Do you mind if we sit here?"

Jack smiled at Sun and nodded, "Take a seat."

Kate offered a friendly smile also as Sun sat across from her. This forced Hurley to sit on Sun's other side, which landed him right next to Sawyer. On Sawyer's other side was Juliet who was in a conversation with Jack. Claire was next to Jack, in between him and Charlie. As they sat down, Boone sat next to Kate and Shannon on his other side.

"Hey Hurley," Jack said as he shoved his cheeseburger in his mouth.

"Jack."

Hurley started eating his chicken fingers silently. It came as no surprise, though, when a glob of ketchup fell on his yellow shirt.

"Oh no, here," Claire cried, handing over a napkin.

"Way to go, Slam Dunk." Sawyer said sarcastically.

"Sawyer," Jack started, giving him a look.

"It's just ketchup; it will come out," Sawyer added.

Sun looked over to see what the fuss was about when she caught the eye of Jin walking to a table. She called out for him in Korean. Stopping, he eyed the table with caution.

"You can sit with us," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course."

The rest of the table watched their foreign conversation, but didn't say anything. Jin moved to the table and sat next to Sun.

"Hey," Claire said sweetly. "I'm Claire,"

Jin nodded, but turned to his food.

Kate smiled at Sun as Charlie began a conversation on the values of potatoes.

"You don't even eat potatoes that much, man," Boone added, as he picked up a fry.

Shannon laughed at Charlie as she picked at her salad. Someone cleared his throat next to her and she turned to see Sayid standing there awkwardly.

"Hey," she managed.

Remaining cool around guys was something Shannon had never had problems with, but then again, Sayid wasn't most guys.

"Wanna sit with us?" she asked, moving her purse from the empty seat.

"Sure," he said as he sat down.

He found no help in Jin, who was still very occupied with his food.

The lunch hour passed quicker than Kate had ever seen it. It felt nice, though, having a group of kids to talk to where there wasn't any pressure or weirdness. And for once, everyone seemed to be getting along.

"What are you guys talking about?" Hurley asked.

"Oh, Dr. Linus gave us an assignment. We just finished reading _Watership Down_ and it's about these rabbits who have to learn how to survive. The assignment was to get in groups and figure out how we would survive as a team if we were stranded on a deserted island. And we could all decide to bring one thing."

"Dude, tough choice."

"What would you bring?" Claire asked Jack.

"I don't know, I couldn't decide. I was thinking medicine, because food and shelter you can make and find, but if you don't have basic medical supplies, you'd be in trouble."

"Always the doctor," Juliet joked.

"What would you bring?" Claire asked again, aiming this time at Hurley.

"Well, it'd be really great to have, like, a room full of food, you know?"

"That's not the question, Einstein. You could bring one thing. A room of food is like a lot of things," Sawyer pitched.

"Then what would you bring?" Hurley asked.

"A gun," he answered quickly.

"A gun?" Jack asked.

"Hell yeah, you don't know what kinds of things you'll have to fight there."

"What good is a gun without any ammo?" Kate asked.

"Well, G.I. Jane, I'd bring the ammo too."

"But that's more than one thing," Hurley countered.

That sent the table into a laugh and Hurley wondered if he had made a mistake making Sawyer mad. He didn't seem mad, though, and he turned the question on Kate.

"I don't know," she said, "I couldn't answer in class. I think, maybe, just a knife. You would need one to help you build shelter and stuff."

"You guys are crazy," Shannon said, "just bring a cell phone. Then you can get off the island."

"You'd have no signal, dork." Boone quipped.

"Actually," Sayid added, "it might be possible to use various devices to create a signal, or boost the one you have."

"Yeah right," Kate laughed, "in the movies maybe."

Sun laughed as she set her carton of juice back on her tray.

"I'd bring my friends," Charlie said pausing from drawing on his finger with a sharpie, "It'd be like a resort for the rest of your life."

"Not without electricity," Jack offered, finishing his burger.

"What about you?" Jack turned to Juliet.

"Don't ask me," Juliet said, "I don't know enough about the situation, I mean what are the odds that you'd be stranded on an island. Did your boat crash there? Or a plane or what? And who are you with? Do you have any supplies on the plane?"

"Calm down there," Sawyer interrupted, "Just a hypothetical, sweetheart."

"So what did your teacher say?" Hurley asked. "What would he take?"

"Power," Jack said as he wiped his hands, "He said the most important thing you could have is power. But he was making a point with the book and the leader of the rabbits in the book. It's not a bad book," he said.

The lunch bell rang, catching all of them by surprise. It had been fun sitting together for a change.


	29. Somebody Likes Hugo

On the way to his art class, Sun walked with Hurley.

"See? I told you Sawyer doesn't hate you."

"He didn't bring up the ranch thing, but he does hate me. You gotta believe me on that one."

"I think you're thinking too much about it," she said as she waved goodbye.

"See ya later, Sun."

Art was as boring as ever, and Hurley couldn't get his picture just right. He had tried to draw the comic book style as best as he could, but his polar bear kept looking lop-sided.

"What the hell is that? A mouse?" Sawyer asked behind him.

"It's a polar bear," Hurley said as he kept working.

"A bear? That ain't no bear."

"It's a bear," Hurley insisted.

"If you say so, Tubo," he said before walking off.

Like that, the switch had been flipped and the mean Sawyer had come back. He wondered if there was a way to make him stop with the nicknames. Surely there was something Hurley could put on the line to make him give it up.

The day passed much the same as the morning and by the last hour of the day, Hurley was more than ready to go home. The joy didn't last long when he realized he had to go to work at 4:30 at Mr. Cluck's chicken. He didn't even know where his uniform was. Someday, he would be able to quit his crappy job at Mr. Cluck's. He always thought about playing the lottery, just because taking a shot was better than not even trying. He'd never win if he didn't even try. With his luck, though, he wasn't sure if it was such a good idea.

For now, though, the job wasn't always bad and it gave him something to do after school. When the bell rang, Hurley shuffled through the hallways trying to make it fast enough to catch the bus. Missing the bus home would be horrible.

He reached it in time and hopped on as the driver with the pointy salt and pepper beard turned on the bus.

"Thought you weren't going to make it," he said with a goofy grin.

"Me too," Hurley sat down a few seats behind the driver, whose little sign read Lapidus.

"Thanks man," he said.

"No problem," Lapidus replied, "It's my job to make sure you guys all get home safe and sound and that's what I aim to do."

Hurley pulled out his iPod before he remembered it was dead. Sighing, he stuffed it back in his backpack. Someone moved to his seat.

"Hi?" he said as he turned to the blonde girl.

"I saw you this morning when your iPod died. I was thinking we could share."

"Oh, okay," he said, unsure of what she was doing.

The more he looked at her face, the more familiar she seemed, "Do I know you?"

Smiling shyly she shook her head, "We've gone to school together for a while, but we've never really talked or anything."

He nodded, but was almost positive he had seen her somewhere else before.

"I'm Libby, by the way," she added.

"Hi, Libby," he said, "Hugo. Well, Hurley."

"Hey, Hurley."

She held out an earbud and he put it in his right ear with the other hanging out her left. She started the music and the song was one of his favorites.

_They're gonna wash away, they're gonna wash away._

Never had he been so glad to have one of those days.


	30. Expelle

A/N: Just kinda playing around with this idea and decided to go for it. Sorry if you totally hate this chapter! If there's an episode you really want to read, leave a comment and I'll try to work it in the story. Thanks for the reviews; I can't believe this story is getting so long!

Not paying attention at the end of the day, Sawyer bumped into someone and dropped all the books in his hands.

"Son of a…" he mumbled, "That's what I get for not using my backpack."

He bent over to pick them up. Suddenly, Hurley was on the floor next to him, scooping up the papers.

"Here, dude, looks like you could use a hand."

"Thanks Powderpuff," Sawyer said as he took the last book.

"Ok, the nicknames, they gotta stop," Hurley said.

"Oh yeah? And who's gonna make me?"

They turned to walk towards the front door when they saw a group of kids gathering by Jacob's office.

"What's going on?" Sawyer asked.

Hurley followed him over to where Jin was standing with Charlie, "Dude, what happened?"

"It's Nikki and Paulo; they're going to the hospital. And they're probably going to be expelled…"

"Who the hell are Nikki and Paulo?" Sawyer asked.

(9 Chapters Ago)

Charlie walked towards his locker, leaving Jack and Daniel talking about heading off to Latin to find Claire. What did Jack need with Claire anyways? He said he didn't like her, but every chance he could he was following her around like she was a little puppy.

His locker was downstairs, and it didn't take long for him to reach it. Flipping the combination lock, he pulled the metal open.

"Hey," a girl said beside him as she began opening her locker.

"Hey Nikki," Charlie said as he pulled his jacket out of his locker.

He shrugged into it and something fell to the floor with a plastic crack. Nikki bent down to pick it up and handed him an orange bottle of pills.

"What is that?" she asked nosily.

"Nothing," he said defensively, shoving the bottle into his backpack.

"Uh huh," she said, "I know nothing when I see it. Don't worry, you're among friends. What is it? Oxy? Vicodin?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow before pulling his backpack on his shoulder, "Xanax actually."

"Ohh," she said with a smile, "Good ones. Put me right to sleep. Listen, if you ever wanna, trade or something?"

"No thanks," he said, shutting his locker.

"No, really, do you always keep them in your locker?"

He gave her another funny look before slipping his hood over his head, "Yeah, most of the time. See ya."

As he walked away, Nikki turned back to her locker, "Yeah, see ya."

(6 Chapters Ago)

Paulo walked up to the biology class. He could hear Desmond inside, talking with a student.

"Who knows, brother. It might just be your destiny."

He heard a laugh, "I don't believe in that Mr. Hume."

The boy Paulo recognized as the basketball player walked out of the class, looking surprised. In his hand, he clutched a brochure for dear life. Clearing his throat, Paulo walked into the classroom.

"Mr. Hume?" he asked.

"What is it?" Desmond asked as he made an attempt to clean the desk.

"I was wondering if there was anything I could do for extra credit? Cleaning boards or anything? I would like some extra room for the test next week."

Desmond looked at him with a smile, but didn't say anything for a few minutes. Reaching down, he picked up a folder and put in his briefcase.

"Well, I don't really do that, Paulo. If you'd like to get with a study group, or do some tutoring, that would be more beneficial for you."

Paulo tried not to be too obvious with his staring at the folder, "Right. I thought I would ask. Thanks though, Mr. Hume."

Paulo walked out of the room as students started coming in. Nikki joined his side a few seconds later.

"So?"

"I'm going to be late for class," he said quickly.

"You didn't see anything?" she hissed.

"It was hard to tell."

Nikki glared at him before walking away with a huff. He wasn't about to tell her the answer key was right in his bag.

(3 Chapters Ago)

Dr. Linus grabbed his book and turned off the lights before heading towards the teacher's lounge, listening to the drone of the kids complain about the movie. His lunch hour seemed to get shorter and shorter every day. He pushed open the door to the lounge and went to the fridge, pulling out his brown bag lunch. Sitting off to the side, he opened his book to read.

He always had a hard time paying attention to his book because he had a bad habit of listening to the other teachers' conversations. Today was rather quiet so he was able to finish his lunch and the last chapter of his book fairly easily. Only when he was about to leave was there a disturbance.

"What..?" a voice came from across the room.

Ben looked up to see Desmond pulling the papers out of his briefcase frantically.

"Is something the matter?" Ms. Hawking asked as she stirred her cup of tea.

"My test key. I can't find it. I swear I put it in my bag."

"You should be more careful with your materials, Mr. Hume. No reason to cause accidents everywhere," Hawking mumbled as she walked away.

He pulled out the remaining papers, sifting through them. _Been there done that,_ he thought as he threw away the paper bag. Leaving the room, he nearly ran into a little blonde girl.

"Can I help you?" he asked, surprised that she was standing so close to the door.

"What?" she said suddenly, looking up, "Oh, no, not at all."

She turned quickly and marched off, down the hall. Shrugging, Ben walked back to his classroom.

On a mission, Nikki flew down the stairs and went straight to where Paulo's locker was. With the halls empty, she began trying to form a plan.

It took her no time to get his locker open; he had reluctantly given her the combination days after school started. She began rummaging through his backpack and folders on the top shelf, searching for the papers.

"What are you doing?" Sawyer asked as he opened the locker next to Paulo's.

"Oh, nothing," she said nervously.

"Right. Listen, I can arrange to not say anything about this, but I'm gonna need something in return."

She eyed him carefully, "Name your price."

(Before the Chapter Began)

Nikki reached down to pick her backpack off the floor when her locker door slammed in front of her.

"What-?" she stopped when she saw Paulo standing there with his arms crossed.

"What did you do with it?" he demanded.

"Do with what?"

"The answer key. What did you do with it?"

Nikki's face contorted in confusion, "Paulo, I don't know what you're talking about."

She began walking towards the stairs to the front of the school. Paulo grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the herd of kids.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Hume's answer key. You stole it from my locker."

Her jaw tightened, "Okay, listen. We can share it. You weren't even going to tell me you had it."

"That's not true," he hissed as he looked around, "Come on, we can't talk here."

She smiled, "You're right. Let's go somewhere else."

They walked up the stairs as Nikki pulled out a bottle she had lifted from Charlie's locker.

"What's that?" Paulo asked.

"Xanax, I took it from Charlie."

"Who?"

"Nevermind," she said, "Do you want one or not?"

"Can I just see the answers? I really need it."

"Here," she put two of the little pills in his outstretched hand and popped a few in her mouth.

Turning, she unzipped the backpack and pulled out the answer sheet, "Here?" she waved, "Happy?"

She tripped and Paulo reached out to break her fall, but ended up falling on her. Clutching the paper, he felt the world fade as he landed on the school floor. Nikki's grip was loosed on the little orange bottle and it rolled away as a few kids stopped to stare at them.

Desmond was walking out of the attendance office when they collapsed. He rushed over to the two bodies, but immediately his eye was caught by the paper in Paulo's hand.

(Chapter 30)

"Too bad," Hurley said, "Nikki was always pretty nice."

Charlie looked down at the little bottle by Nikki's foot, "Yeah, it's too bad, really."

"Wonder what happened."

"We'll probably never know," Charlie said.

Sawyer resumed his trek towards the door and wondered how the hell he was going to get his math book out of Nikki's locker.


	31. Canis Rasa

Claire woke up early. She couldn't sleep. The slight wave of nausea wasn't helping her any either. She pulled her sweatshirt off and reached for another shirt in her closet. From the door she looked back at the mirror, staring at her stomach. She was starting to see a bump, but she didn't know if it was only in her mind, or if anyone else could see it too. She knew she really should go to the doctor. In some ways, putting off the doctor would put of the reality of her real situation.

Slipping a pink shirt on, she changed her shorts and went into the kitchen to grab a muffin before leaving for the shelter. After a brief conversation with Charlie on the phone last night, she was pretty sure he was going to show up this time.

As she drove, she realized she wasn't nervous around Charlie like she was with other guys, like Sawyer. Charlie was different, special.

She got there just as they were opening up.

"Hey," she said with a smile.

The other volunteer waved as she began turning on the computer and shifting things on the desk.

No sooner had Claire put her purse in the locker than Charlie walked in the door.

"Hey," he raised his hand with a smile.

"This is Charlie," she said, pulling at the sleeves of her shirt.

Her friend nodded and suggested they start making rounds to clean the dog's cages.

Claire led the way as they walked into a room full of barking dogs.

"Oh, nice," Charlie said as he stepped back, "They're quite the barking sort, aren't they?"

Claire smiled, "Yeah, well, they're dogs so that's what they do."

She pulled on gloves and handed a set to Charlie.

"So what is it exactly that we get to do?"

"Well, if the dogs are too hyper than we move them to another cage while we clean this one out. Then we give them a brush down and some new food and water before we send them back in. Simple enough."

"Right," he said, rubbing his gloved hands together, "Which one first?"

Claire knelt down to a catch where a yellow lab was laying with his head on his paws.

"Charlie," she said, "Meet Vincent."

She opened the cage and he poked his head out, sniffing at Charlie's unfamiliar scent.

"He's such a sweetheart, and very smart too."

"Seems like it. Come here Vincent," Charlie cooed.

Slowly, the dog crept out of the cage and pushed himself into Charlie's arms. Laughing, he began rubbing his ears. Claire pulled out the bad newspaper and threw it away. Standing, Charlie grabbed the new stuff and began unfolding it.

"So you work here a lot?"

She nodded, "Yeah, sometimes it's better to talk to these guys than real people when you're feeling down or blue. They're really good listeners."

Charlie grinned as he put the newspaper into the cage, "I bet so."

They continued working in silence, Vincent watching them closely.

"Are you going to the Talent Show next week?" he asked finally.

"I don't know. Haven't really thought about it. Are you?"

"Well, I'm playing in it, so I have to. Daniel, you know Daniel Faraday? We're doing a song. Together, I mean."

"That's cool," she said. "What do you do? Sing?"

"Erm, yeah, sing, play piano and bass, like that."

"Cool," she repeated, dumping food in Vincent's bowl.

"So, you know, if you want to come, that would be cool too."

She smiled, "Yeah, I might have to go now. I know the band."

When she poured the dog food in the bowl, the smell hit her in all the wrong ways. She stood and tried to breathe fresh air before she threw up.

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked, standing up.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy, that's all."

He grabbed her elbow, "Listen, Claire, if you're not feeling good, don't make yourself sick trying to do this work. You tell me what to do and I'll do it."

She smiled reassuringly at Charlie, "No, really, I'm fine."

He eyed her warily before reaching down to put Vincent back in the cage.

"Thanks for offering to help, Charlie."

He glanced up at her before moving to the next cage, "Yeah, of course. It's fun to hang out, you know. Outside of just classes and not have to worry about things. Won't be long before we'll be heading out the door with diplomas in our hands. Can't wait for that."

Claire smiled, wondering if she would get to hold her diploma in one hand and her baby in the other.

"You need a haircut," she said.

"Wot? Really?"

Claire laughed, "I was talking to the dog, Charlie."

"Right," he said as he pulled the newspaper out.


	32. Follow the Teacher

Ms. Hawking sat at her desk, sorting the papers before her. It gave her no pleasure to pass back a failed test. Quite the contrary, she took it as a failure on her part. Ford: F. Austen: B. Shephard: D. She grimaced. Shephard usually did very well. Momentarily, she debated confronting him on the issue. The students had mostly made their way to their seats and were waiting for the bell to ring.

She watched Jack, conversing with Ford and Austen. They were an interesting bunch; she never really understood how Austen fell in with those two opposites. Shephard was more than he would ever admit, a sturdy capable young man full of potential. Ford, on the other hand, could possibly have capabilities if he would ever think long enough to use them.

The bell rang and she stood calling the class to order. The lecture was boring, she knew, but once she explained it, they would be allowed to get in groups and continue. After going step by step she turned them loose to work by themselves.

It was no surprise to her that the three got in a group. It was obvious to everyone but Kate that they were pushing each other to show male dominance. What surprised Hawking the most was her complete reluctance to side with either of them. She couldn't tell if she just enjoyed basking in the attention, or if she really thought both of them were below her. Miss Austen certainly couldn't do better than Shephard. Certainly not with Ford.

As Hawking walked around the room, she observed the students doing their work and marking things down. She reached down just as a beaker fell into her open hand.

"Careful," she chided the student as she set it back on the desk.

"Everything okay here?" she asked.

Ford looked up with a smile, "Sure is."

Raising an eyebrow, she moved on. Class would be over soon and then the cycle would start all over again, giving the same lecture and watching the same experiment. She wondered if the students felt the pull of monotony day after day after day.

The bell did ring and she was glad for it when it did. She watched them file out as soon as possible, with Shephard lagging behind Austen and Ford.

"Got a minute?" a voice said from the door.

Hawking looked up to see Jacob standing there, smiling. He always had a habit of just appearing out of nowhere.

"Of course," she said, motioning her hand towards her desk.

Jacob only stepped in the room to make way for Jack who left without even a glance at Jacob.

"I just needed that report we talked about. You know, with the locations for the field trip and all," he said with a smile as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh. Right," she said quietly as she reached into the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out a folder.

"Thank you," he said with another quick smile as he left the room.

Jacob made his way down the hall to Richard Alpert's room. When he got there, Richard was gone. Once again, he moved so Jack could enter. This time, Jack looked. With a smile, Jacob walked inside and waited for Richard to return.

Without paying attention, Richard walked in and nearly ran into Jacob. Jacob grabbed him by the shoulder and began speaking softly. Shrugging out of his grasp, he took the folder from Jacob's hand and set it on his desk.

Once Jacob had left, he realized the bell had already rung and the students were staring at him expectantly.

"Class," he said finally as he pulled out his transparencies, "Today we're talking about line graphs."

He sat on his stool as he turned on the overhead projector, most of the students pulled out notebooks, others sat and stared as though they hoped to just absorb the material the longer they stared at it.

"Unless you have a supernatural gift of memorization, I would suggest you take notes on this. It will be your homework."

Some of the kids groaned as the ones who hadn't previously got out paper, did. Richard wasn't convinced of the level of agony, so he added, "And on the test."

The groan was much louder this time, as it should be. Smiling to himself, he pulled out a black marker to start the graph.

When the lecture was over, he moved to pick up the worksheet pile on his desk. Moving from row to row, he passed out the papers.

When he handed one to the Australian girl, who barely noticed the thing. He kept moving and handed one to Charlie, who took it sans hood. Raising an eyebrow, Richard said nothing, but desperately wanted to comment on how much more human Charlie looked without it. On the next row sat one of his best students, Jack. Jack murmured a thanks before hunkering down over it. Jack was a special kid, or so he had been told.

Richard returned to his desk, counting down the minutes until the bell would ring and his planning period would begin. It seemed like every day was just passing time, because that's all he had left to do anymore. Bored, he pulled out a crossword puzzle book and began working on it at his desk.

Feeling someone watching him, he looked up and saw Charlie standing over his desk, staring at the puzzle.

"I had a quick question."

"What is it?"

"Just if this question was negative or minus?"

Richard stared at the boy for a few seconds before explaining the difference. He was _how_ old? Charlie would be lucky to finish High School.

At last the bell rang and Richard questioned for the second time that day why he had ever been convinced by Jacob that teaching was what he had always wanted. Grabbing the folder, he followed the last student out of the room and headed upstairs to Linus's class.

Ben was walking into his room with a mug of coffee.

"How many cups is that?" Richard asked as he walked in.

"Just my second," Ben said with a forced laugh.

Richard raised an eyebrow and handed the folder over to Ben, "You'll need to see these."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Jacob sent them."

"Right," he said with a congenial nod.

As soon as Richard left, the mirth left him and he stared at the retreating figure with annoyance. Hoping the students weren't paying attention, he flopped the folder on his desk.

"Okay, class," he said, "We're starting our new novel today: _Stranger in a Strange Land_."

The class groaned.

"None of that. Everyone come up to the front and bring your copies of _Watership Down_, and I'll give you the new book."

Reaching down he pulled out one empty box and one full of books he had just got shipped in yesterday.

The students came up as instructed, listing their names and handing over their copies.

"Shephard, Jack. Book number 23."

"Okay, 23, here's your new book."

Linus handed the book over with a smile, "I think you'll like this one,"

Jack nodded and took the book cautiously.

"Austen, Kate. Book number 51."

"51…" he mumbled before handing over a new book.

"Ford, James. Don't have my book."

He looked up, "What do you mean you don't have it?"

"I mean it must be in my locker or something, because I don't have it with me."

"Bring it to me after school, please. Your number is…" he scanned the list, "15."

"Right," he said as he took the new book.

"Rutherford, Shannon," the next person said, "Number 31."

"Here you go, 31."

"Burke, Juliet. Number-"

"58. Got it."

"Thanks," she said with a smile as she took the novel from his hands.

The process went much slower than he had thought it would. After all the books had been distributed, he glanced at the clock.

"Well, since we don't have much time, I'll just give you a brief context of the story."

Linus began discussing the importance of the early sci-fi story and why it was so important to the greater picture of things.

"So," he said in summation, "Just focus on the first chapter for now. If you want to read ahead I highly encourage that."

He noticed a few of the kids grinning, wondering what kind of idiot would actually try to get ahead. Coincidentally, he noticed Jack skimming the pages, more than likely making an estimation of how long it would take him to read it.

"The book was far ahead of its time and I hope-"

The bell cut Linus off and the kids shuffled around to get their stuff and leave. He grabbed his folder and book before waiting at the door to make sure they had all left before closing the room. Jack was the last to leave and gave Ben a nod as he joined Juliet, Sawyer and Kate walking towards the lunch room.

Ben headed towards the teacher's lounge. Making his way to the fridge he pulled out his sack lunch like he did every day and moved to the same table.

He set his stuff down at the table and unwrapped his sandwich before lifting the file on top of the book. Opening it slowly, he knew what he would find there. Time flew before he realized he had barely touched his lunch, with only minutes left. Throwing away his trash, he opened his bag of chips as he tucked the book under his arm and left.

Desmond started to call out something from the other side of the room when he noticed Ben had left a folder on the table.

"He's gonna need that." He muttered.

Picking up the folder, he noticed a few of the names inside. It wouldn't hurt for Ben to get this folder after school was over. Besides, the bell was about to ring anyways. He hurried to stuff his papers in his little bag and head to the classroom.


	33. Folder Instructions

He got there before any of the students and was able to unlock the door and turn on the lights before Juliet walked in.

"Hello," Desmond said with a nod.

Juliet smiled but said nothing as she walked to her desk. Desmond settled into his chair as the rest of the class straggled in. He noted as Jack made his way to Juliet with a smile. There was something about Jack he just couldn't figure out. The bell rang and Desmond stood up to let the class know what they were doing.

"You lucked out today," he said as he picked up a little case from his desk, "It's movie time."

The kids relaxed as Desmond stuck the DVD in the player below the television.

"And don't worry, no quiz afterwards. I doubt we'll even get through all this. It's about the nervous system," he tried to sound energetic, but couldn't.

As he walked over and turned the lights out, he couldn't imagine how he got so lucky as to nail this job permanently. He leaned back in his chair and began watching the film with the class.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open at the sound of the dinging bell. The movie was still on and the room still dark, but a quick glance at a few of the kids' faces said they had seen him fall asleep.

He turned the movie off and moved to the lights at the sound of the final ding, "Well, I can't give you a quiz if not even I can stay awake during the film."

The kids began rushing out, worried they'd be late for their next class. Juliet and Jack walked out at the same time.

"Good night, I mean, Good bye, Mr. Hume." Juliet joked.

"Very funny," he grinned as he moved back into the room.

He saw the folder sitting on his desk and remembered it was supposed to go to Ben Linus. He also remembered he was supposed to pick up Penny from work after school. He grabbed the folder and rushed down the hall to Widmore's room.

"Can you make sure Ben Linus gets this?" he asked quickly before dashing off.

Widmore stared after Desmond and wondered if he had made a grave error in hiring what could someday be his son-in-law. Tossing the folder on his desk, he went to his desk to pass out the test. He imagined none of the students were actually prepared for the test, but it made little difference to him.

Most of them would fail the class anyways.

The test out, Widmore sat at his desk and read for the entire class period. Five minutes before the bell rang, he instructed the kids to turn in their tests face down on the front desk. After having done so, he quickly announced that they could quietly occupy themselves until the bell rang.

About to turn back to his book, he noticed Shephard staring at him. That boy gave him an unnerving feeling. Soon enough, the bell rang and the students began leaving the class.

Marching a few doors down, Widmore handed the folder to Rousseau.

"Take this to Benjamin Linus after school. I have no time for this silly game."

Surprised, Rousseau smiled, but said nothing. Taking the folder back inside her room, she didn't even bother to look at it before sealing it in a school mail envelope. She called Jack to the front.

Jack listened as she asked him something in French which either was to take the envelope to Ben Linus or to wrap Ben Linus with something. Assuming she meant the first, he took the envelope from her hand and went to sit back down.

Rousseau believed the best way for the children to learn was a submersion in that language. From the time the first bell rang to the last, she spoke only in French to the kids. She began the lecture on French food. A few of the kids seemed to be interested, like Shannon Rutherford. Shannon was smarter than she led on to be and understood more than most people in the class. That's what surprised Rousseau, to see her try to act stupid in front of the others.

Rousseau began pulling out her fake fruits and vegetables to help the kids get a better grasp of the vocabulary. They, no doubt, thought she was crazy after having a conversation with a banana. After the vocab lesson, she put the kids in pairs to order food from a restaurant.

With the little time they had left, Rousseau went over the homework from the night before. It was important to her to go over the lessons with the students because then they could see what they had done wrong. Grades were of little importance to her, the grasping of the language is what mattered more.

The bell rang eventually and the students filed out. Rousseau gave a gentle reminder to Jack that he was supposed to take the letter to Ben.

Jack told himself he would after gym and made his way to the other side of the school. He walked into the gym where Locke was already making Boone shoot free throws.

"Coach," Jack said, pulling at his gym shorts.

"Jack," Locke said with a smile.

"Let's go for a run," Locke added.

Falling into step, Jack began running laps around the gym with his team. Locke stood in the middle and watched them as they ran in circles around him. They continued to run around the room until Locke blew his whistle.

"Water break," he called.

The guys moved to the benches and grabbed their bottles of water.

Boone was standing nearest to Locke.

"Mr. Locke," he started, "What would you be if you weren't a teacher?"

Locke smiled, "Well, why wouldn't I be a teacher?"

"Just, like, if you couldn't."

"Hey," he said, "Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't do something."

Boone just grinned. Locke could see the admiration in Boone's eyes. He was like a little puppy dog that didn't know any better.

"I guess," Locke said finally, "I guess I would have to say an actor. I mean, who wouldn't want this face on screen."

Boone laughed and took a drink, "I don't think I could ever be an actor. Too much memorizing."

"Unless you don't ever have any lines."

Boone laughed again and Locke gave instructions on the exercise routine the guys were to begin.

The hour always passed quickly for Locke who had to let them leave early to shower, even though it was the last class of the day.

When they had all left, Locke noticed an envelope sitting on the bleacher. He sat down and opened it. After scanning a few lines, he realized it was something Jacob would need to see. Tucking the envelope under his arm, he headed towards the principal's office to show him the papers.


	34. Band Behind the Curtain

Jack headed up the steps into the school. The halls were darkened, but he followed the crowd heading towards the auditorium. He tugged on his jacket, wondering if he had over done it. He had that habit sometimes. Claire fell into step beside him.

"Hey," she said with a grin.

"Hey Claire," Jack replied, "How's it going?"

Claire was in a dress so that made him feel a little less fancy.

"I'm doing great, thanks."

He nodded, "That's good. That's, uh, really good."

"Are you okay?" she asked, noticing how distracted he was.

"Yeah," he said quickly. "Listen, have you seen Kate here?"

Claire tried to hide her smile, "I haven't seen her yet, but I heard she was coming. If I see her do you want me to tell her you're looking for her?"

"No," he said quickly, and then added, "Yes, actually, yeah could you tell her?"

"No problem," she said as she moved away through the crowd.

Jack ran his hand through his cropped hair and wondered how exactly he was going to ask Kate to go to prom with him. He had thought of several scenarios, but each of them seemed equally stupid.

Making his way into the auditorium, he found an empty seat towards the front and sat down. He scanned the little program and wondered how long it would last; he didn't even know half of the kids on the sheet. He found Charlie and Daniel's names down near the end, which meant he would be forced to stay until the end. Surprisingly, he saw Sawyer's name with Hurley and Miles.

"Is this seat taken?"

Jack looked up to see none other than Kate standing over him.

"Hey," he said with a smile as he shifted in his seat. "No, it's not."

"Okay, great."

She sat down with a smile, "Can I look at that?"

He looked at the program in his hand, "What? Oh, yeah,"

She scanned the page and laughed.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Sawyer, he's really gonna do it."

"Do what?"

Kate leaned in to Jack conspiratorially, "I put him up to doing this song. I don't know how managed to rope Hurley and Miles into it, but somehow he did."

"What song?"

"I can't tell you," her smile widened, "But it's going to be hilarious."

Jack nodded, "I can't wait."

Kate settled back in her seat, "Of course he wouldn't do it for free."

"What?"

"I had to agree to something in return. You know Sawyer."

Jack did know Sawyer. He believed Kate, however, did not.

"What did you agree to?" he asked cautiously.

"He wanted me to go to prom with him," she rolled her eyes, "Can you believe it?"

"Yeah," he forced a little laugh, "I can."

"What does that mean?" Kate turned to Jack.

"Come on, Kate." He started, "Sawyer's been after you since day one."

Her lips drew into a little line, but she didn't say anything. She handed the program back.

"Are you here to see Sawyer?"

"No," Jack said firmly, "Charlie and Daniel are doing a duet, I told Charlie I'd come."

"I see."

The house lights dimmed and they both faced forward waiting for the show to start. Jack couldn't have told anyone what the first few acts were if his life had depended on it. He was replaying the conversation with Kate over and over in his head.

Inevitably, it was time for Sawyer. The minute the music started, not even Jack could stop a little laugh.

"All my single ladies!" the recording called out.

Sawyer, Hurley and Miles stood in a line, recreating dance moves Beyonce would be proud of.

Kate, along with the entire auditorium, roared with laughter as Sawyer and his single ladies pumped their fists up and down and attempted to shake their behinds to the rhythm.

Cutting the song short, the boys froze as the curtain fell, sending the crowd into a round of cheers and calls.

"I can't believe he agreed to that!" Jack yelled over the buzz of kids.

"I know!" she cried back.

Eventually the crowd settled down and the show continued with slower acts. After another hour, they got to Charlie and Daniel.

Charlie came onstage in a full rocker outfit: a vest with his sleeves missing, chains, and a black t-shirt. Daniel, on the other hand, had dressed his part with a classy fedora. Daniel started the piece with a fast piano concerto.

Kate stole a quick glance at Jack. He was leaning forward watching them both. She had no idea Daniel was so talented.

Suddenly, Charlie jumped in on the electric guitar and the crowd burst into rounds of applause. Kate couldn't help but think the song sounded familiar. They sounded really good together and the song got better the longer they played.

Charlie scanned the crowd for Claire and nearly stopped playing when he saw her. She looked beautiful in a dress with a black jacket over it. Glancing over at Faraday, he looked up with raised eyebrows as he continued winding his fingers across the black and white keys.

Snapping to, Charlie kept going until the dramatic end of the song where Daniel hammered out the final notes onto the ivory. The crowd continued to cheer as Charlie unplugged his guitar and carried it backstage.

"That was great!" Daniel cried.

"Yeah, thanks man that sounded fantastic."

Still on a music high, they made their way to the green room of the theater.

After the final act, Jack stood up and said a quick good-bye before walking away from Kate. He had to put some distance between them for a minute. He was walking so fast he didn't realize where he was going and ran right into the back of Juliet.

Turning, she smiled. "I was going to really chew out the jerk that ran into me, but since it was you…"

"Juliet," he said quickly before he pushed his face against hers in a quick kiss.

She cleared her throat when he pulled away, "Yes?"

"Would you like to go to prom with me?"

"How can I say no?" she said with a smile, seeing Kate watching them from a few rows away.

The kids were starting to crowd around them and Jack pulled Juliet over to the side.

"Are you sure?"

She knew that they both knew who they were doing this for. And she couldn't believe she didn't even care. Juliet smiled, deep down she knew that Jack was only asking because Sawyer had already asked Kate. She wondered if Jack would ever realize that she was about to say yes _because_ Sawyer had already asked Kate.

"Of course."

"Okay."

Juliet smiled and turned to leave. Before she disappeared around the corner, she sent one last glance at Jack.

He smiled and then she was gone, leaving him to wonder what it was that he had done


	35. Stranger with a Strange Hand

Juliet shuffled into class, watching Ben mess with something at his desk. She smiled wide at Jack on her way to her desk, but the smile failed when she noticed Kate walk in, particularly because of the object of her interest, the long haired blonde sitting next to her.

Ben started the class, trying to get the children to settle down.

"Okay, okay, I know you all are just dying to start our discussion of 'Stranger in a Strange Land.' In so many ways, this novel is ahead of its time. What are some of those ways?"

"Well, space travel for one," Juliet said.

"Of course. And what makes space travel so important in the book?"

"It's used as a separation device. It allows us to watch Valentine see Earth society for the first time."

"Very good Juliet," Ben said with a smile, "And why is this significant?"

"Because it makes us see Earth for the first time," Jack said suddenly.

"Interesting theory, Shephard, explain."

"Well, the writer puts the audience in a particular situation to make them think what they would do in that situation. If that makes sense."

"Yes," Ben said, moving back to his desk, "That's very good. Now, I have a demonstration. I need two volunteers."

No one raised their hands.

"Miss Austen, and Miss Burke. Please come to the front of the class."

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Juliet pulled herself from her desk and went to the front with Kate.

"Now," Ben said as he pulled a pair of handcuffs from behind him, "In many ways, Valentine finds himself chained to this new way of life and alien culture that seems so familiar to us. Here is the key, using only your cuffed hands, please open the cuffs."

"Mr. Linus," Kate started, lowering her voice, "what does this have to do with the book?"

A few of the kids started to giggle as they dropped the key several times.

"You have to work together," Linus said quietly.

"Here," Juliet promped, taking the key from Kate. "You push and I'll twist."

Kate did as told but a snapping sound sent her stomach for a loop. Looking down, Juliet and Kate saw the key had snapped inside the lock.

"Great," she mumbled.

"Oh no," Ben cried as he moved to examine the lock.

Most of the kids were in full on guffaws at the slapstick routine taking place at the head of the class. Sawyer was no exception.

"Lookie there what you caught Hoss. Regular outlaws."

"Alright, children, please try to control yourselves and read chapter 3 while I escort Juliet and Kate to the principal."

"The principal?" Juliet whined.

Ben pushed them out the door, "Well, I don't have another key and I don't have metal clippers so what do you expect me to do?"

They walked together one pulling the arm of the other towards the principal's office. Jacob looked up with a smile when they walked in.

"Looks like we have quite a mess here, don't we?"

"I'm sorry, Jacob," Ben started.

"Listen, I'll get to work finding something to get those off with and call you back here when I do."

"In the meantime?" Juliet asked.

"In the meantime you'll go to class Miss Burke."

"We don't have the same classes," Kate interrupted.

"That's right," he said as though just thinking about it. "Guess you'll have to work something out."

Both of them glaring, they walked out into the hall.

"Okay," Juliet said, "We both have lunch next, we can talk about it then."

"Fine." Kate said crossing her arms.

When she did, she pulled Juliet's arm with her, "Hey, I'm attached here."

They walked back to English, switching seats with Sawyer so they could sit next to each other. When the bell rang, they both reached for their bags, pulling each other down.

"Could you hold on a minute?" Juliet snapped, "I'm getting my backpack."

"Well excuse me your highness, I'm getting mine."

They managed to pull things together and walk into the hall. Jack was on Juliet's side and Sawyer was on Kate's.

"Come on," Sawyer said, "It's not that bad, you're just hung up on this."

Jack laughed, "Yeah, don't get so caught on the little things."

Sawer grinned, "Good one, Cap."

"I'm glad you both find this so amusing," Kate stated.

They walked into the lunch room, stopping to decide where to go.

"After you," Juliet claimed.

Kate moved towards the nacho line, pulling Juliet along with her. They tried to work in coordinated movements so each could get their food. When they got to the cashier, she gave them a weird look but said nothing.

"Let's just try to work together, okay?" Juliet said as they walked towards the table.

"Fine by me. But it'd help if you weren't such a jerk."

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Just sit down," Kate said, pulling the chain down as they sat at the table.

The others stole glances but didn't want to say anything.

"Those are some rad friendship bracelets," Charlie broke the ice sending the table into hoots of laughter.

"Very funny," Kate said with a forced grin.

With lunch over, they decided to go to Biology with Juliet. They walked in and made their way back to the table where Jack was waiting.

"How lucky am I?" he said with moving to pull a chair over for Kate.

Desmond walked up, "I've been informed of the situation. Have you tried oil or grease?"

Juliet shook her head, "I'm fresh out."

Desmond laughed, "Sorry. Jacob will find something. Meanwhile, Kate, when we go to take yearbook pictures, you'll go with us."

Kate closed her eyes, "Okay, great."

She had forgotten all about yearbook pictures today.

As Desmond walked away, Jack let out a little laugh and patted Juliet's hand lightly, "So sorry."

Juliet's face flushed and tried to ignore Kate's rigid posture at the gesture. It was going to be a long afternoon.

When the class headed to the library for pictures, Juliet had to sit with Kate standing at an awkward angle away from her. Juliet had to do the same, leaning away from the frame. As they were standing in the crowd waiting for the last kids to have their picture taken Desmond approached.

"Well, Jacob just let me know to send you two down, I think he's found a solution."

They began walking back to the office, trying to pull the other along.

"I know I wouldn't be your first choice of persons to be stuck with," Kate said accusingly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me, Juliet, what is it supposed to mean? Since you know everything about everyone."

"What is your problem?" Juliet said suddenly as she stopped. "Have I done something to you?"

"What was that about, making out with Jack at the Talent Show the other night? I know you saw me standing there."

"So what if I did, Kate?" she tried to cross her arms, but when she pulled Kate's arm forward, she stopped.

"Do you really think I cared about how you felt right then? Jack practically follows you like a puppy and then you treat him like that. What did you think I was going to do? I really care about Jack and I really care about…" she stopped herself, "Anyways, it doesn't matter. Jack's been hurt enough."

She continued walking, pulling Kate along in silence. They reached Jacob's office and found him sitting at his desk with metal cutters.

"Where did you find those?" Kate asked.

"Doesn't matter," Jacob said with a smile as he picked up the handcuffs. "Wait a minute."

Jacob fiddled with the broken key and it popped out, opening the handcuffs.

"What did you do?" Juliet said, shrugging her wrist free and rubbing it.

"It just popped right out, must have not been that stuck after all. You girls return to class, alright?"

They nodded as they walked into the hall.

"Imagine that," Kate said suspiciously.

"What, you really think I wanted to be stuck with you?" Juliet asked.

Kate watched her a few seconds before shaking her head, "See you later, Juliet."

Juliet continued to rub her wrist when she heard a voice from behind her, "Why did you do it Juliet?"

She turned to see Jacob standing with his hands in his pockets, not looking at her.

"I don't understand."

Jacob nodded, "I was just wondering why you broke the key."

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"If you say so," he said with a little smile. "You had better get back to class before the bell rings."

"Thank you," she said before walking down the hall.

Jacob stood at the office and watched her leave until he couldn't see her anymore.


	36. The Cost of Lying

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I was doing NaNoWriMo and didn't get the time to work on this. But I'm back and ready to wrap this story up! Thanks for all the reads and reviews! Also, in the talent show chapter I left out that Jack asked Juliet to prom. That was kind of important. It has been changed now, but so you know…my bad. PS, don't own LOST or anything.

Jack looked up as Juliet walked in the classroom sans Kate. Desmond started clapping from the front of the room and the rest of class joined in though only a few of them actually knew what was going on.

"Good to see you get both hands again," Jack said with a grin.

Juliet leveled a glare but he could tell she wasn't that upset. "My dress is blue, by the way."

"What?" he whispered.

"For prom. Usually the guy gets a tie or something to match the dress of the girl. So I'm telling you my dress is a soft blue."

"A soft blue?" Jack laughed quietly and nodded, "I'll make a note of it."

He pushed his notebook over so she could copy the notes that she had missed while she was in Jacob's office. He tried to focus on the lecture for the remaining period, but thoughts about prom were distracting him. Why had he even asked Juliet? He knew the answer involved Kate but he didn't want to think about that either. He also wondered why she said yes. He had a feeling she was in it for Sawyer as much as he was in it for Kate. The whole situation was so messed up.

It surprised him when the bell rang and he took his time putting everything back in his backpack.

"See ya later, Jack." Juliet said with a smack on the desk before walking out of the class.

He pulled his backpack on an headed for the door saying a quick goodbye to Desmond as he left.

"Jack," he said, walking towards him quickly, "Have you thought any more about Australia?"

Jack rubbed his hand through his hair, "Not really, Mr. Hume. I don't think I'm going to go."

Desmond smiled and clasped his hand on Jack's shoulder, "I hope you'll reconsider. You still have a little time. I don't think you realize the importance of all this, Jack."

Jack felt a little uncomfortable under the scrutiny and just forced a smile in return. "I'll think about it, Mr. Hume. Thank you."

Hurrying into the hall, he started walking and realized he was behind Claire. He skipped to catch up with her just as she stopped suddenly grabbing her stomach.

"Claire," Jack cried, latching onto her elbow in case she fell. "What's hurting?"

"No," she shook her head with a wince, "I'm fine."

"Claire," he said sternly, "Don't be ridiculous. You need to go to the nurse."

"No." her voice held enough conviction to make Jack stop. "I'm going to the doctor today with Kate. It will be fine. Just let me go to the bathroom."

He sighed and started to steer her towards the bathroom when she collapsed on the floor. Looking around he called to another kid, "Hey, go get the nurse, alright? Get the nurse now."

The kid turned and hurried for the front offices. Desmond poked his head out of the classroom at the noise and saw Jack and Claire on the floor. He rushed over, "What happened?"

"She collapsed," he said, checking to make sure she was still breathing, "Claire." He began, gently patting her cheeks, "Claire, wake up."

"Try to sit her up," Desmond instructed.

Ethan rushed up at that time and asked what happened.

"We were walking and she said she wasn't feeling good and then she just collapsed."

"And she didn't say anything was hurting or she felt faint?"

Jack knew what he had to do. "She's pregnant."

Desmond's head turned to look at Jack with surprise.

"Okay. Let's try to get her down to the office."

"Here," Jack said bending over and easily picking her up. "I've got her."

They walked down to the office. In the process, they passed Charlie who stopped suddenly to stare. "Claire?" he asked. "Is she okay? What's going on?"

Jacob had met them by the front office and was instructing the little crowd that had gathered to leave.

"That means you too, Mr. Pace."

Disgruntled, Charlie forced himself to walk away. By the time they got inside the office, Claire's eyes were open.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Claire, I need you to tell me exactly what happened." Ethan began pulling out a blood pressure cuff to check her blood pressure.

"I just felt a little dizzy. I didn't eat lunch so that might be why."

"How many weeks along are you?" he asked without skipping a beat as he wrapped the cuff around her arm.

"Excuse me?"

"I know you're pregnant Claire. I need to find out why you just passed out. Please tell me how many weeks you are."

Claire's face turned to Jack and the look of betrayal hit him right in the stomach. Over the shock of emotion, he heard Ethan telling him to go back to class. He shuffled his way back and found Desmond holding his backpack.

"I figured you'd need this, brother. You better get back to class now."

Nodding, Jack sat through his remaining classes without hearing a word. When the final bell rang, he made his way into the hallway. Kate ran up to him quickly, "I heard what happened. Is she okay?"

"I think so. She said you were supposed to go with her to the doctor today?"

"Yeah, I'm about to go to the office and she if she still wants me to go. I don't know what's going to happen there."

"I know. I don't either. She'll never forgive me for telling him."

Kate put her hand on his arm, "You had to, Jack. You would have caused more damage had you said nothing. I'll talk to her."

"Thank you," he said, stepping out from her touch.

Every time she leaned in or touched his arm, he felt as though he was about to do or say something stupid. He couldn't control his own thoughts when she was around. She smiled a forced smile before moving away. Once she was gone, his thoughts drifted to Australia. Maybe an overseas trip this summer would be the perfect break before college started.

He walked out of the school, hoping to avoid anyone asking questions of Claire. He made it to his car and sped away from the building. At home, his mother was gone and he trudged upstairs to start on his homework. He threw his mind into making sure every equation was correct and every biology term defined to the best of his ability. When he finished his biology homework, his thoughts began drifting to what had happened earlier, and he turned to look out his second story window. He didn't realize it was nearly seven o'clock when his door opened.

Christian walked into Jack's room. He was sitting at his desk, his computer on, but he was still looking out the window.

"You won't get much work done that way," he said, sternly.

Startled, Jack turned in his chair, "Sorry, dad. I was just thinking."

"About what?" he said moving towards the bed and sitting down.

"Just what I'm going to do after school," he lied.

"You're going to college, you know that."

"No," he said still watching him, "After college."

"You've got some time to work through that, Jack," he said, annoyed.

Christian looked around his desk and saw the brochure Desmond had given him. He picked it up.

"What's this?"

"It's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing." He began to open it up, "Are you applying for this?"

Jack didn't say anything.

"I really think you should. This would be quite an experience for you. Here, I can send in the application for you."

He stood and took the brochure as he walked out the door, "Keep working, Jack."

As he left, Jack raked his fingers through his hair. Just like always, people were making decisions for him. One of these days, Jack would finally get the nerve to stand up to his dad and fight him. For now, though, he might just have to go to Sydney. He thought about the oceans and beaches of Australia and thought that maybe it wouldn't all be that bad.


	37. The Beginning of

A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews. I don't own LOST.

Charlie had heard the rumors that Claire was pregnant and had collapsed in the middle of the hall. He didn't know what was true or if she had been taken to the hospital or anything. He was heading towards the office to see if she was still there when he saw Kate moving fast. Rushing to catch up with her, he tried to get some information.

"Hey, what's going on with Claire? Have you heard anything?"

"No, I haven't Charlie. I'll let you know if I do. Okay?"

"Okay, I just want to help, you know. If I can."

"We don't need any help right now, Charlie. But thanks."

He moved over to one of the benches and planted himself as Kate moved into the nurse's office. No one would tell him anything. It wasn't like he was just trying to pry into other people's business. He genuinely was worried that something might be wrong with Claire. The very idea that something might be bad made his stomach turn to rocks. He thought he heard voices coming from the door.

When the door opened, Kate and Claire came walking out together. They were heading for the exit to the school. A few kids stopped to stare, but Claire tried to ignore them. News spread fast at Oceanic High.

Charlie jumped up and walked over to them, "Claire, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Charlie. Please leave me alone."

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay?"

"Charlie, please." She said, turning to walk towards the front door.

Kate gave Charlie a sympathetic glance as they continued towards the front door in a hurry, leaving Charlie standing still behind them. When the metal door clamped shut, but Charlie remained sitting Jin rushed to his side saying something in Korean and holding up Claire's backpack.

"Is that hers?" he asked and Jin nodded quickly.

They rushed towards the door and pushed the metal open. Kate and Claire were walking towards the side lot where Claire's car was parked.

"Claire!" Charlie yelled, "Claire, wait!"

He scrambled down the front stairs and across the parking lot, holding her backpack high for everyone to see. Jin followed a few paces behind, watching more carefully for cars. Charlie jumped out of the way just in time as one car nearly slammed into him.

Claire and Kate stood and waited for him to catch up. When he did he was out of breath but offered the backpack as a peace offering.

"Jin saw that you forgot your backpack. So I made sure you didn't forget it."

Claire smiled and reached out to get it, "Thanks, Charlie." She moved in closer and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Grinning like an idiot, he stood back as they got inside the car and pulled out. Claire raised her hand good bye from the passenger seat as they pulled away.

Jin was standing behind him when he turned around. He gave him "the nod" with a big smile. Charlie couldn't help but laugh. Then he realized he had left his own bag on the bench inside the office.

"Great." He mumbled as he hurried back across the parking lot and up the stairs. When he got inside, Desmond was picking up the bag and looking at it.

"Oh! Mr. Hume!" he cried out, "That's my bag. Sorry."

"I know it's your bag, Charlie," Desmond said with a bag, "I was just about to come find you to bring it to you. You need to be more careful about leaving it about like that. Someone could steal it."

"Yes, Mr. Hume, of course."

"I also wanted to tell you how great you sounded at the talent show. That was quite a great song you did. Do you play the guitar?"

"Just a bit." Charlie lied.

"Well, I was going to tell you, I know a band that's going on tour to open for Drive Shaft this summer. They just lost their guitarist. I was thinking, you know, if you were interested, brother, I could give 'em a ring."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course. You've got talent, Charlie, you've got to follow your path, right? The tour is worldwide too. They start in Australia at the beginning of the summer."

"Wow, that would be really amazing, Mr. Hume. If you think I'm really on their level."

"It's settled then. I'll give them a call and let you know what they say."

"That would be really fantastic. Thank you."

"Anytime, Charlie. And be a little more careful crossing the parking lot, next time. Okay?"

"Right," he said quickly before taking back off towards the door. He was going to have to go home and practice. If he got an audition, he wouldn't want to blow that.

"I thought I made it clear," Ms. Hawking said as she walked up to Desmond.

"I chose to ignore you," he said, looking at the door as it closed.

"Are you going to take my son?"

Desmond turned to look at her, "No. Not now."

"Just be sure you're doing the right thing, Desmond."

"For the first time, I know I am." He smiled at her and knew that this was what he was supposed to do. The others, they were only a matter of time.


	38. This Place is Detention

A/N: Don't own LOST. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I did and got this awesome LOST behind the scenes book. I also have written the very end of this story and it's all coming together. Hopefully, I'll be able to end it soon. Can't wait!

Kate walked into the school and pushed her jacket sleeves up her arms. Moving to her left, she hopped down the set of stairs towards her first class. Jack was walking inside as she made her way in.

"Hey," she said with a smile as they headed towards their desks.

"Kate," he replied, letting his backpack fall to the floor.

She slid into her desk and wasn't sure if she should say anything else. Things had felt a little strange between them lately and she didn't know why. More than likely it was all the prom nonsense. It was really all Sawyer's fault. The minute she thought about him, he walked in the door.

"Howdy," he said to her as he moved to his seat.

"Sawyer."

The bell rang but he didn't move right away. Instead, he grinned at her for no reason.

"What are you doing Sawyer?"

"Mr. Ford," Ms. Hawking said from the front of the class, "If you would be so kind as to join the rest of the class, we would all be grateful."

"Fine," he drawled as he turned to sit in his seat.

Ms. Hawking began her lecture but it wasn't long before Sawyer turned again to face her. He leaned across the aisle and told her there was something he wanted to talk with her about. He said it in a staged whisper so loud Kate was certain he only wanted Jack to listen in.

"Sawyer, shut up," Kate said as she turned toward the front of the class.

Ms. Hawking was looking right at them. "Ford and Austen. Since you have such important things to discuss today I'm guessing you wouldn't mind staying after school to discuss them. You're both going to after school detention."

"Detention," Sawyer groaned, though Kate imagined it too was staged.

After glaring at Sawyer, Kate turned back to her notebook and tried to focus on the notes. It wasn't easy. She could feel Sawyer staring at her and could practically hear Jack wondering what was going on.

When the final bell rang, Hawking called them both up to the desk. Kate gathered her things and started towards her, hoping she'd relent and let them off with a warning. Jack gave her a look of good luck before leaving the classroom. When it had cleared, Ms. Hawking watched them both.

"Miss Austen, I've had no serious trouble from you since you've started here, but you must know by now I take my classroom very seriously. There are standards that have been set and if you persist in breaking them, I must persist in enforcing them. You will both serve after school detention today and hopefully afterwards this will not happen again. As for you, Ford, you had better be glad I'm only giving you detention. That will be all. Report to room 316 after school for your detention."

She gave them little slips to give to the detention teacher and sent them away.

"What was that about, anyways? What was it that was so important?" Kate asked as they walked out into the hallway.

Sawyer looked at her in all seriousness and shook his head. Kate growled before pushing past him.

"Sometimes, Sawyer, you can be a real jerk."

She continued for her next class and nearly ran into Charlie as he headed towards math. He was looking forward to seeing Claire. She wouldn't answer any of his calls last night and he wanted to make sure she was okay. He didn't care if she was pregnant or whatever. He just wanted to help her if he could.

When he entered the math room, Claire's seat was empty. She always made it to class before him. He saw Jack was sitting at his desk and wondered if he would know. Trying to be quick before the bell rang, he rushed over to Jack.

"Where's Claire?" he demanded.

"What?" Jack asked, confused.

"Do you know why Claire isn't here today?"

Jack shook his head with a small frown as he look over to Claire's seat. "Maybe she's just out sick."

"I saw you helping her to the nurse. What happened?"

"I don't know, Charlie," he said finally, "Maybe she's sick."

Charlie was getting tired of Jack thinking he knew what was best for everyone. Still mad, he made his way back to his seat as the bell rang. With Claire gone, it provided more space than he wanted for Mr. Alpert to see. It meant he would have to actually take notes instead of working on lyrics to his new song.

The hour passed slowly as Charlie wondered how he was going to find out what happened to Claire. He finally realized that of all people, Kate would probably know. He would see her at lunch. Until then, time seemed to pass slowly. During his third hour, he didn't hear a word Mr. Widmore said during his lecture on anthropology.

As he entered the cafeteria, Charlie headed straight for Kate in line. Michael gave him a funny look as he cut in front of him.

"Kate," Charlie started.

Kate turned around to see Charlie. She smiled politely asked what he wanted.

"Where's Claire?"

Kate's smile faded and he realized she was trying to decide which part to tell him. "She's going to a different school now."

"What?" Charlie asked, shocked. "She's gone? For good?"

"Yeah," Kate nodded. "I'm sorry, Charlie."

Kate watched his face fall as he walked away. She wasn't sure if Claire wanted her to tell everyone that she was pregnant so leaving it at that still made it ambiguous enough. Charlie was bound to learn the whole story soon enough anyways. Wondering if the day could get any worse, she paid for her food and walked over to the table.

The rest of the day seemed normal enough, but she was still dreading the detention after school. When the last bell of the day rang, she slowly made her way to room 316 for detention. Sawyer met her at the door with a raised eyebrow and they walked in. The teacher, Mr. Pickett, looked up.

"Gimme your slips and I'll sign em."

They moved over to his desk and handed over the little pieces of paper. He glanced over them before scratching his name at the bottom and handing them back.

"Pick a desk. No talking, no cell phones, no doing anything but homework. Understand?"

"Yes," Kate said quickly before moving to a desk. Sawyer followed behind and sat next to her.

Kate pulled out her copy of _Stranger in a Strange Land_ to read. She was three chapters behind. Sawyer pulled out his math book and opened it to a certain page. As the minutes passed, Kate realized they were going to be the only ones in the room.

"Why are you going to prom with me, Freckles?" Sawyer whispered.

She shot him a sideways glance before looking up at Pickett. He was buried in his magazine and didn't look up at them.

"Because you asked." She whispered back.

"And that's the only reason?"

"Why else?"

"Hey!" Pickett yelled. "Knock it off."

Sawyer quit for a minute and started copying the problems from his math book. Kate looked back at her novel and tried to keep from looking at Sawyer. Eventually, she couldn't help herself and looked over at him. He was watching her closely. The intensity of the sudden questions between them made Kate feel like she had a fever. She could tell her face was flushed pink.

"Stop that," Pickett called as he stood up and walked over to the desks. He stood before them with his arms crossed, "If you two don't knock it off, you're both headed for the principle and you'll get a whole week of this. Do you understand?"

Kate nodded and Sawyer just glared.

"Do you have a problem with me?" he asked Sawyer.

"Sawyer, stop." Kate mumbled.

"Hey," Pickett growled moving closer to stand over Kate. He leaned down to get right in her face, "I want you to stop talking. Understand, missy?"

"Leave her alone," Sawyer said in a low voice.

"Was I talking to you?" Pickett said turning back to Sawyer and getting in his face.

"Sawyer, stop it." Kate pleaded again.

"You, go sit over there." Pickett pointed across the room. Surprisingly, Sawyer got up and made his way across the class room.

Pickett pointed to the other side of the class and turned to Kate. "Move it."

Following orders, Kate was now as far away from Sawyer as she could be. Pickett stomped back to the desk in the front and picked up his magazine. After a few minutes, the phone rang. He picked it up and Kate strained to listen.

"But I have kids in here….just two….yeah, but…okay. Fine."

He put the phone down at stood up. "I've got to go help someone. It will be a few minutes. When I get back in here, you better be sitting in those desks or so help me god, you will be in here with me for the rest of the month."

As soon as the door shut, Kate turned to Sawyer. "I said yes, because…." She looked at the door. "Because I really like you, Sawyer."

Before she knew what she was doing she climbed over the desk and was hopping over the next row.

"Freckles, you get back in that desk. If he comes in here you'll have detention for a month. Get back."

"No," she said firmly as she climbed over another row.

Sawyer glanced quickly at the door as Kate cleared the last desk. She threw her arms around Sawyer's neck and kissed him firmly on the lips. He yielded to her immediately and kissed her back.

"Knock this off," he said, pulling away, "You've got to get back."

He brushed her hair behind her ear before she leapt over the desk. She climbed quickly over the other two rows before jumping into her own seat. As she maneuvered her legs into the chair and onto the basket in front of her, the door knob rattled open. Pickett entered just as she picked up her book. He watched them carefully, but said nothing. At his desk, he resumed his position with the magazine.

Kate looked at her book and raised it slowly so it was eye level. Once she was convinced Pickett couldn't see her eyes, she let them look over at Sawyer. He had his hand on his forehead and was looking down at the book. When she turned slightly to look at him, he noticed the movement and his eyes met hers. She wasn't sure if they held a mixture of happiness or sorrow. She also wasn't sure why in the back of her mind, the only thing she could think was to wonder where Jack was at that moment.


	39. A Confidence Man

39.

A/N: Thanks for awesome reviews, again! A special thanks to LornaCat for the nice feedback. BTW: The chapter titles are kind of my favorite part of writing each chapter. Thanks for taking the time to read this all! :)

The first thing Hurley did when he got on the bus was look for Libby. They had been sitting together for the past week and every time he got on he was afraid she wouldn't be there waiting for him. But today she was and she was all smiles as he walked back to their seat.

"Hey," she said, pulling out her iPod. "Wanna listen to mine today, or yours?"

"Oh," he said sitting down, "It doesn't matter. Actually, I was thinking we could talk, or something?"

"Sure." She put her iPod in her lap. "What do you want to talk about?"

"You know, just things."

Libby kept smiling, "What kinds of things?"

"Well," he started, "Maybe things like, hanging out type things."

"Okay," she drew it out, "What about that?"

"I was going to ask…" he paused. The humiliation of Libby not wanting to go to prom with him would be too much. Not only that, but then she might not want to be friends with him.

"What were you going to ask?" she asked.

"Just where you like hanging out and stuff?"

"Oh," she said as she glanced down at her iPod, "Well, the same place most people do I guess. What about you?"

"Yeah, I guess the same places. Did you want to listen to music?" he asked quickly.

They listened the whole way to school and Hurley kicked himself for not having the guts to ask her. Maybe he could talk to someone and ask what they thought. The only person he knew that was good with women was Sawyer. The first chance he'd have to talk with Sawyer was at lunch. He waved good bye to Libby when they got inside the school.

Jack nodded to Hurley as he passed but he seemed so preoccupied that he didn't even notice. Wondering why, Jack made his way into Ms. Hawking's class. She glanced up at him as he walked in and called him to her desk.

"Mr. Shephard," she started, "I've been meaning to talk to you."

"About what?" he asked.

"Your grade. It's suffering. Is something the matter? Are you having trouble?"

"No ma'am." He said. "I'll try harder."

"It's not for my sake that I ask," she said as she resumed her writing.

"I understand."

Jack walked back to his seat and put his backpack on the floor. Things were starting to seem a little overwhelming. He was always good and getting his act together, though, and he knew the extra effort in Hawking's class would pay off.

Kate sat down behind him, "How's it going?"

Jack nodded turning in his seat to see her, "I'm good. How are you?"

"Can't complain." She flashed a smile as she pulled out her notebook.

Sawyer pushed past them and sat at the desk next to Kate. "Mornin', Freckles."

"Sawyer."

An awkward silence settled between them so prominent, Jack turned back around. Something was definitely going on, but Jack wasn't about to ask. The morning passed quickly for Jack and by the time they were all walking to lunch together, the awkwardness had become so great, Juliet gave Jack a look of confusion. Trying to be subtle, Jack slowed down. Juliet did the same. Sawyer and Kate seemed to not even notice as they walked along in silence.

"What's up with them?" Juliet asked.

"I have no idea. They had detention yesterday though."

"Really?" Juliet mused, "Innocent little Austen got in trouble?"

Jack frowned at her, "Because of Sawyer."

"I see. Maybe this throws a damper on their relationship."

Shrugging, Jack tried to act like he didn't care. The thought came easier as Juliet slid her hand into his. Juliet pulled away as they entered the cafeteria. Sawyer was standing to the side, watching for them.

"You disappeared, Blondie."

"I'm getting food," Jack said as he walked away.

Juliet turned to Sawyer, "Didn't think you'd noticed. What are you getting?"

"Chicken I think."

"I'm with you, then."

As they walked over to get some chicken, Hurley walked up behind them.

"Hey, dude, could I talk to you?"

"Sure, Powderpuff, what's up?"

"Dude," Hurley started, "You made a deal, nicknames, remember?"

Sawyer glared as he moved down the line.

"What deal?" Juliet asked, amused.

"We made a deal that if I did the talent show, he couldn't use nicknames. And I did."

Juliet laughed, "That's priceless, Hurley. Good work."

"Thanks. I kinda wanted to talk about something…personal."

"I get it," Juliet said, moving away. "I'll see you guys in a bit."

"Now that you've chased off the girl, what can I get ya for?"

"I was just wondering, about, how you kinda get all the girls to talk to you? Or how you talk to them?"

"What's the beef, Jab-" he stopped himself, "I mean, Hugo. You got a love connection going?"

"Never mind, just forget it."

Hurley started to walk away but Sawyer stopped him, "No, no wait, I'm sorry. I'll listen."

"I just wanted to ask…this girl, to prom and didn't know how to say it."

"Well you could start with: will you go to prom with me?"

Hurley seemed to consider this as they moved down the line. "Who are you going to prom with?"

"Who said I was going?" Sawyer asked defensively.

"No one, I was just asking. You aren't?"

"No, I am. I'm taking Miss Austen."

"Kate?"

"Is there another Miss Austen?"

Hurley looked at him, confused. "So, just ask?"

Sawyer nodded, "Sure. Girls hate playing games. Just ask her."

"Thanks, dude." Hurley said as he walked off.

"Anytime, Hugo." Sawyer said with a laugh.

Hurley got his food but by the time he made it to the table, his usual seat by Charlie was taken. He moved down to sit by Sayid. He didn't really know Sayid that well.

"Hey," he said.

"Hello." Sayid replied, looking up from his book.

Hurley wasn't sure if he should say something else. Sun came and sat across from him, taking all the pressure off of starting any conversation. Sun started telling a story about her art class when Sayid leaned over to Hurley.

"Do you speak French?"

"What?"

"French, do you speak French?"

"No, dude, I take Spanish. I think Jack takes French though."

Hurley nodded towards Jack who was sitting at the head of the table talking to Juliet. Sayid easily recognized Jack. They had had several classes together in the past. They had never become friends though. Still, he needed something translated from French and maybe that would be an olive branch of friendship. When the bell rang, Sayid made a point to single out Jack.

"Jack, could I get your help with something?"

"Sure, Sayid, what is it?"

"I need something translated from French. Could you help?"

"Oh," his mouth drew into a thin line, "I really don't think you want me helping you. I don't understand French at all. Shannon, though, she's really great. You should ask her."

"Thank you," he said falling back.

Juliet caught up with him and walked the rest of the way to Biology together.

"So get this," she started, "Hurley made a deal with Sawyer that he couldn't use nicknames."

"And Sawyer agreed?" Jack asked.

"Yep. That was the deal and Hurley's reminding him every chance he gets."

"Does it apply to everyone or just Hurley?"

"I don't know."

"Remind me at lunch tomorrow to find out." Jack said.

Juliet laughed as they walked into Biology together.


	40. The Inhaler

40.

Shannon stared up at the clock. There were only vingt minutes until class was over. Thank God. The day couldn't have been longer. First she spilled orange juice at breakfast and had to change. Boone was being a bigger pain in the butt than usual because he had to wait for her to change before heading to school. Then she overhears that Charlotte girl talking about her dress and it's the exact same one as hers. So now she's going to have to go get another prom dress.

Shannon is startled out of her reminiscing as Rousseau announces they will be working in pairs for the rest of the class to check their workbook assignments. She leans forward and taps Jack on the shoulder.

"Want to work with me?" she asks innocently.

"Sure," he replies, shifting his desk so they can see each other.

Shannon smiles inwardly at the thought that she gets to work with Jack. Half of cheer leading practices were filled with talk about how Jack did this or Jack did that. While she herself preferred the Sawyer build, she couldn't deny that Jack was quite an eye catcher around the school.

"I have no idea how to do this," he said.

"It's really easy." She said with a cough. "The past tense…"

She couldn't finish her sentence because of the closing feeling in her throat, like she was trying to breathe through a straw. Of all the times to have an asthma attack…

"Are you okay?" Jack asked, leaning towards her. "Maybe you should get a drink."

She shook her head, "Asthma."

"Oh," Jack said in recognition. "Where's your inhaler?"

"Ran out."

"Okay," Jack said calmly, "Let's get you to the nurse. Just stay calm okay? You'll be fine."

Jack helped her stand and they walked to the front of the class. Everyone was staring at them as Jack quickly explained the situation to Rousseau. She nodded quickly and opened the door for them. Jack kept one hand on Shannon's back as they walked.

"You're doing great Shannon, we're almost there."

It wasn't until he looked at her that he realized she was crying, "Is something else wrong?" he asked suddenly.

She shook her head and started crying even harder.

"Shannon?" Jack asked, stopping her and putting his hands on both sides of her face, "Listen to me. You're going to be okay but you need to calm down. Alright? You're only making your lungs work harder and that's going to hurt. Come on, just focus here."

She looked into his eyes and nodded, forcing herself to calm down. Her gasping slowed, but the wheezing was still pretty heavy. They resumed their trek towards the nurse. When they got there, Ethan was sitting at the computer.

"She's having an asthma attack and ran out of her inhaler."

"I'll take things from here, Mr. Shephard. You can go back to class."

"I'll get your things, Shannon."

She nodded as she sat on the little bed. Jack walked back to class and reached it right as the bell rang.

"Is she okay?" Rousseau asked.

"I think so. She just panicked a little. I'll grab her things for her."

He got his own stuff and Shannon's and made his way back to the front offices. When he got there he sat on one of the benches.

Boone walked up with a smile, "Hey Jack. I like your purse. That actually looks just like Shannon's."

"She had an asthma attack in French. I was just bringing her stuff for her."

"That's really nice of you Jack. I can take it."

"I'm just waiting for her to get out."

"I'll wait with you." Boone stood awkwardly next to the bench.

Jack watched Jacob head from his office towards the front doors to a man who walked in the school. He was as big as Jacob with dark hair and a dark shirt. The two seemed to know each other, but approached each other stiffly.

"Jack," a voice said next to him.

Snapping out of his spying, he noticed Shannon standing there. "Thanks again for helping me. I just freaked out I guess."

"No problem." Jack assured her, standing up. "I gave your stuff to Boone."

"Thanks."

They stood awkwardly for a minute.

"Oh, Sayid asked for my help with something today and I told them to ask you for help. Just so you know."

"Okay," Shannon said, her mind going in a totally different direction. "Sounds good."

"Alright. Well, if you think everything is okay then I'm going to head out."

"Sure. Thanks, Jack. For the help."

"No problem," he said again. "See ya later, Boone."

Jack walked towards the door, trying not to look obvious as he strained to hear the conversation of Jacob and the man wearing black.

"Do you know how badly I want to fire you, Jacob?"

"Yes," Jacob replied calmly.

Jack could go no slower without looking suspicious, so he pushed the door and walked into the parking lot towards his car. As he did, he saw Hurley rushing towards the bus line as they started pulling away. Shaking his head, Jack stopped to make sure Hurley wouldn't need a ride home. When the bus stopped and the door opened, Jack resumed his path towards his car wondering what Jacob had done to make someone want to fire him…


	41. For Translation

41.

Hurley stepped into the bus and gave a look of thanks to Lapidus.

"You've got luck on your side, kid." He said with a laugh as he shut the door and started the bus up.

Hurley shuffled down the aisle to where Libby was sitting.

"I thought you weren't going to make it." She said with a smile.

"Me too." Hurley said, catching his breath.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"It was okay. How was yours?"

"Oh, you know, the same old same old kind of thing. All the same classes, all the same teachers."

Hurley nodded.

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"You just seem…distracted or something."

"Libby," he started, "If you weren't going with anyone, I was wanting to ask you if you would like to go to prom? With me, that is."

Libby smiled, "I'd like that very much. It's a date."

Hurley smiled back. He handed over an ear bud. Libby took it and leaned into Hurley's shoulder as the bus pulled out of the parking lot.

Shannon and Boone stopped at the curb as the busses finished going by before they resumed their walk towards their car.

"Are you feeling okay?" Boone asked.

"Yeah," Shannon said, "I just want to get home."

"I'm glad Jack was there to help you."

"Me too."

Boone stopped in the middle of the parking lot. "Do you need any help or anything?"

"I'd like to get home some time today, Boone."

"Okay," he said, turning away in defeat, "Just trying to help."

"If I needed your help, I'd ask for it."

"Geez, Shannon. You could turn off the prissy princess for a few minutes to talk to your own brother."

Shannon pulled her sunglasses out of her purse and put them on as they walked towards the car. Someone walked up to them from the other side. It was Sayid.

"Hey," Shannon said. "How's it going?"

"Jack said you could help me with my French."

"Of course," she said, flashing a smile. "We could meet at the library later, say, around seven?"

"Alright." He said, slightly confused. "Thank you."

Shannon continued smiling until he had walked away. Boone rolled his eyes as he moved towards the driver's seat of their car.

"You smile like a Barbie for him, but chew me out for asking."

"Shut up, Boone."

"Forget it." Boone said as he slid into the driver's seat and started the car.

Shannon crawled into the passenger side and looked out the window as Boone drove.

"Can I use the car to go to the library?" she asked.

"Sure. Do you want me to drive you?" Boone asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"Drive me here Boone, drop me off here Boone, carry my backpack and purse Boone. I'm glad I'm your friend when you need me."

Shannon looked at her shoes but said nothing. Boone flipped on the radio to break the silence.

"Listen," Shannon said, "I've just had a bad day is all. Thanks for making sure I'm okay."

Knowing this would be the most he would get, Boone watched the road with a small smile on his face.

Shannon began wondering what Sayid wanted by asking for her help. Maybe he was going to ask her to prom. She had already turned down two offers, and was kind of hoping Sayid would ask. She hadn't heard if he was taking anyone.

By the time Shannon had changed twice, fixed her hair, grabbed her French book and ran down the stairs, she was ten minutes late. It would only take her a few minutes to get to the library, but she felt bad making Sayid wait. She sped towards the library and found a space quickly. She tried not to rush inside partially because she didn't want to be all gross when she walked in and partially because she was afraid Sayid would see her.

He was reading at a table with his hand on his forehead when she walked up.

"Hey," she said casually.

He looked up, "Hello."

Shannon sat down next to him, curious as to what to say.

"I'm sorry you had to come all the way down here. It's just a section of my book. I wasn't sure what it was saying. If you could take a look that would be great."

"Oh, sure." Shannon reached out to grab the book. "Um, here it's talking about the sea. That's 'la mer'. "

"Why would it be talking about the sea? That doesn't make sense."

"It's your book," she said with a smile.

"Are you sure that's what it says?"

Shocked, Shannon sat back, "Well, you can check it on Google translate if you like. Um, sorry, but I have somewhere else I need to be. I'll see you later, okay?"

"No, Shannon. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant it didn't make sense."

Shannon looked down at the book, "It's talking about an island across the sea. Where the people live their lives happily. It looks like it's supposed to be a song or something."

"I see." Sayid said, completely uninterested in what the book was saying. He was trying to find a way to repair the situation. "Shannon, I didn't mean to insult you."

"I know." She said with a forced smile.

"Well, thank you for the help. Let me know if I can help you." He offered.

She stood up, "There is something…"

"What?"

"Take me to prom."

"What?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Go with me to prom. You are going aren't you?"

"I hadn't planned on it."

"Then go. It will be fun."

"Okay," he said before he knew what he was saying.

"See you later, Sayid."

She turned and walked towards the door, knowing full well that Sayid was staring after her, and she couldn't help the little smile that spread across her face.


	42. The Death and Life of Charlie Pace

Jack walked into the cafeteria and headed for the hamburger line. Kate walked up to him as he did. He smiled a friendly smile and kept moving. Kate got right up next to him.

"Have you talked to Charlie lately?"

"Charlie? About what?"

"Claire, school, anything."

"He asked if I knew anything about Claire a few days ago. I haven't really talked to him since then. Why?"

"I think something's wrong."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," she said, reaching for a bottle of juice. "Like, mentally or, I don't know. He seems really down. Maybe you should talk to him. I think he may be doing drugs," she said lowering her voice.

"Why me?"

"Everyone here listens to you, Jack."

"I don't know," Jack said, moving away, "That's not really my thing."

Determined, Kate scooted forward. "Will you just do it for me, Jack?"

"Why would I do it for you, Kate?" he turned to look at her. When he looked at her it was as though he were seeing her for the first time.

"I didn't mean…" she stopped and shook her head quickly. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter," he said as he stepped toward her putting his face inches away, "Why would I do it for you, Kate?"

"Because I asked. From one friend to another."

Nodding superficially, he turned back to the line and got his food. Kate grabbed some French fries and followed. When they walked to the table, Charlie was staring at the wall. Jack set his food down and turned to him.

"Everything okay, Charlie?"

"Sod off."

"No reason to get upset at us. Just trying to talk to you."

Jack gave Kate a glance before opening his hamburger. Charlie got up quickly and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Go after him," she prodded.

Sighing, Jack rose and followed Charlie. He watched as he walked up the stairs and turned the corner. When Jack finally got to the top of the stairs there was no sign of him. He had to have gone inside the bathroom. He moved to push the door and heard a strange thunk inside.

"Charlie?" Jack asked as he walked in.

Looking down he saw Charlie lying on the floor face down. Rushing forward, he flipped him over. He wasn't breathing.

"No," he yelled.

Immediately, he started performing CPR. He pushed on Charlie's chest and breathed into his mouth before pushing against his chest again. There was a movement behind him and he realized someone was standing over him, looking. He glanced quickly to see Kate's wide eyes. Her hand went up to her mouth as her face stared in confused fear.

"CHARLIE!" Jack yelled again as he smashed a fist against Charlie's chest. If he could only get his heart to jumpstart. If he could only get it to start working again.

"You can hear me. Come on, you can hear me." Jack kept pushing against his chest.

He bent over Charlie's face to breathe into his mouth, but there was nothing.

"Dammit, Charlie, breathe!" He smashed against his chest again, hitting him over and over and over.

"Stop," Kate sobbed, "Just stop!"

Jack felt Kate pulling on his shoulders, trying to make him stop.

"No," he cried, pleading, "Come on, just come on,"

Jack was repeating the words for himself more than Charlie. He pushed Charlie away. It was his fault and he knew he couldn't fix this.

"Come on," he said through a sob, "Come on!"

He leaned down to his face to see if he was breathing, but he still wasn't. His heart wasn't beating either.

"Come on Charlie! Come on."

Kate had crumpled to the floor next to him and was shaking with silent tears. Jack had stopped for a second, but his anger fueled him to keep going. He couldn't give up. Charlie's face was beginning to pale as the blood was draining. He only had a few more minutes before the lack of oxygen would be too much to bring him back.

"Just breathe, Charlie, just breathe!"

Jack pounded on his chest with a closed fist as hard as he could, and Charlie shook with a violent gagging breath. Kate raised her head in complete surprise. Jack was trying to control the mix of sobs and laughter that was fighting to erupt from his shock. Charlie tried to roll over and Jack helped him as he threw up all over the bathroom floor.

"That's good, Charlie, you're doing great. Just keep breathing, Charlie."

He reached for his throat, and closed his eyes. Jack turned to Kate, "Go get someone, he needs to go to the hospital."

Kate jumped up and ran out of the bathroom. Jack was cradling Charlie's head with both of his arms, a smile plastered to his face. "Just breathe, keep breathing."

The adrenaline in his system had run dry and he realized how scared he had actually been. He was afraid he already knew what had happened here.

"Charlie, did you try to kill yourself?"

Charlie, with eyes still closed, turned away from Jack without saying anything. The door flew open and Richard ran in with Ethan. Ethan knelt next to Charlie while Richard looked on in surprise.

"What happened?" he asked.

Jack just stared at him, not wanting to talk in front of Charlie. The door opened a second time and paramedics entered. As they began putting an oxygen mask on Charlie, Jack moved to the other side of the bathroom so they could help. When they carried Charlie outside, the others followed. Kate was standing with one hand on her neck looking on, still in shock. When she saw Jack, she smiled as moved towards him.

"You did it," she said, shaking her head, "You saved his life."

Jack watched them take Charlie away and put his hands on his hips. "I thought for sure he was dead."

"So did I," a voice said behind them.

Jack turned to see Richard standing behind them. "If you weren't there, Jack, Charlie would have died."

A few of the other teachers were starting to shoo the kids away from the crowd forming. He saw Sawyer walking towards them, and slipped away before Kate noticed. He didn't feel like talking to anyone. Jack made his way towards one of the large windows at the back of the school. He stood there for a while, watching the outside world.

_What are we doing here? _He wondered.

He knew his class would start soon, but something kept his glued to that spot, watching the world pass him by.


	43. Disorientation

A/N. Sorry I'm being so slow. I just started a new job and have writer's block. Bad all around, lol. Anyways, keep up the reviews and let me know if you want to see something happen. Thanks for reading! No ownership here of LOST. Enjoy.

Jack finally turned himself around and headed to biology. As he did, he saw that same man wearing the dark shirt yelling at Jacob. Jacob was just standing there, almost looking uninterested. Jack shook his head, wondering how anyone would want that job.

When he got to class, Desmond was inside sitting at the computer. He looked up and gave him a sad nod. No doubt, Desmond knew what had happened. He took his seat and Juliet looked shocked.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." He replied.

"I can't believe it. It's just so shocking. Poor Charlie. Thank god you were there to help him."

"Can we not talk about it?" Jack asked.

"Okay, sure," she said nodding. "We're working out of our lab books. I was just working by myself, but he said we could work in pairs if we wanted."

"Sounds good," Jack said reaching down to pull out his backpack.

They starting working and Jack was trying to keep his mind away from what had happened, but something kept coming back over and over.

"Oh, that's too easy," She said after he told her an answer.

"Hey, Juliet, have you ever seen a man in a black shirt?"

She laughed, "Like, ever Jack? Desmond's wearing a black shirt today."

"No," he started looking up at Desmond quickly, "Never mind."

"I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to touch his arm, "What kind of man in a black shirt were you talking about?"

"I just keep seeing this man up at the office arguing with Jacob. The other day I heard him say he wants to fire Jacob."

"Oh!" Juliet said in sudden recognition. "I actually know what you're talking about. He's the head of the district. Yeah, he's had it out for Jacob for a while apparently. He wants Jacob to be fired and from I heard, he wants to shut the school down. I bet the Charlie thing will play into that."

"Shut the school down? How do you know that?"

"Mostly from Dr. Linus. He talks a lot when he's in the library. Especially to Alpert."

"And you just happened to hear all this?" Jack asked with a small grin.

"Well," she said coyly, "I can't help it if I hear it…"

Jack laughed lightly and turned back to his book. If the boss man wanted to get rid of Jacob, he'd probably find a way to do it. They continued working, but Jack was just too distracted to do anything.

"Jack?" Juliet asked, leaning a little closer.

"Yeah? What?" Jack asked, pulling him out of his day dreaming.

"I said the bell's about to ring."

"Oh," he said, still disoriented.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asked, watching him carefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You may be suffering from some kind of ptsd or something."

"Juliet, really," he said giving her a stern look. "I'm fine."

She nodded, but wasn't convinced. When the bell rang he made an effort to smile and tell her bye before leaving. She put her books in her bag and left the room wondering what was wrong. Walking into the hallway, she stopped for a few minutes to watch Jack leave. As she did, her eyes fell on Kate, walking the other way.

She watched Kate for a few minutes and saw them stop to say hi to each other. Juliet saw the way Jack looked at Kate. He wasn't fooling anyone. Even when he kissed her, she knew it wasn't about her, it was always about Kate. That didn't upset her as much as she had thought it would. Turning back the other way she began walking down the hall to her next class. It passed quick enough and she was more than glad when the bell rang. Her final class was library aide. When she walked in Linus was already there stamping books. His last hour was his planning period and he usually spent his time working in the library.

"Juliet," he said with a smile.

"Hey Dr. Linus."

"Listen, I found this," he walked over and pulled out a book, "And I really think you'll enjoy it. Why don't you give it a try?"

She looked at the cover of the old book. She had never heard of it before, but she always enjoyed Dr. Linus's other suggestions.

"Thanks," she said, moving to stick it in her backpack.

The rest of the period passed slowly. She always liked being a library aide, but she always felt self-conscious when he was standing there. It was almost like he was watching everything she did. When the bell rang she gave a quick good bye before heading towards her locker.

She was standing at her locker putting her books on the shelf when it slammed shut. Juliet jumped at the noise and turned to see Sawyer leaning against the lockers with a smile.

"James," she said with a nod.

"How are we doing Blondie?"

"Well," she started, "I have to open my locker again because some jerk slammed it shut, but other than that I'm okay. How are you?"

"Sorry about that jerk, that must be awful." His smile grew. "I can't complain much for myself. I do have a favor to ask you though."

"Uh oh," she said, shutting her locker for the final time. "What is it?"

"Do you think you could give me a ride somewhere?"

"Sure," she said starting to walk towards the front, "Where to?"

"Well, see, I kind of need your help there too."

Juliet looked at him expectantly.

"Kate said I had to wear something nice to prom, like no jeans. I don't have anything else."

Juliet couldn't stop the smile. She was actually about to take Sawyer shopping.

"I see. I'm sure we can find something at the mall."

"The mall? Hell, Blondie, I was thinking we could just go to Walmart."

Juliet laughed as she grabbed Sawyer's arm. "Come on, just trust me."

"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have asked you."

They walked into the parking lot and Juliet led him toward her car. "How did you get to school?" she asked.

"I walked this morning. I don't live too far and I don't mind the walk."

"What happened to your car?"

"I'm working on it right now." He said.

When they got to her car, Sawyer was shifting nervously. Juliet couldn't keep the smile off her face as they got inside and headed for the mall.


	44. La Fleur

They walked into the big mall and Juliet raised her hands in front of Sawyer, "Okay, I know this may be overwhelming, but I'll lead you through it step by step. If you start to feel faint, just sit down and take a deep breath."

Sawyer smirked at her and kept walking, "The sooner we find something the sooner we can get out of here."

"Okay, let's start with pants. You said you only had jeans?"

"Jeans are comfortable!" he protested.

"I'm not disagreeing with you James, I'm just asking. Come on, let's go in here."

Juliet led the way into the department store.

"What's with the James anyways, Blondie?"

"Well, I figure you always call us nicknames, so what could be more aggravating to you than us calling you by your real name?"

He grinned and ran his hand through his blonde hair, "Looks like you got me all figured out."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

They walked into the store and headed for the men's department.

"What color is Kate's dress?"

"What?"

"Her dress." Juliet said, amused. "Do you know what color it is?"

"No," he said defensively, "Should I?"

"Well, usually you get a vest or tie to match the girl's dress. Not to mention the corsage," Juliet remarked as she flipped through the pairs of pants arranged on a table. She knew it would be asking too much for Sawyer to rent a tuxedo.

"The what?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"The corsage!" she said, laughing. "You know, the flower."

"No, I don't know. I need to get flowers?"

"Not like a bouquet, just a little one she wears on her wrist. They make them just for proms and things."

"I see," he said, leaning over the table. "And is Captain Gumboots going to get you a flower?"

It was Juliet's turn to be confused, "What?"

"The Shephard. Is he getting you a corsage?"

"I would assume so. What size are you?" she asked, changing the subject.

He noticed, but didn't say anything besides his pant size.

"Here," she said quickly, "go try these on so we can see."

"Yes ma'am," he drawled as he made his way to the dressing room.

Juliet rolled her eyes as she followed him towards the room. "You never answered what color Kate's dress was!"

"I don't know what it is!" he called before he disappeared behind the wooden door.

Juliet plopped herself down on one of the benches and pulled out her phone. _What color is Kate's dress? _She texted Jack.

She held the phone in her hands, looking around the store until it beeped. _I don't know. Why?_

Fighting the urge to say something biting, she replied, _Just wondering. I don't have her number._

_ Hold on. _Was the quick reply. Juliet waited a while longer before it came back. _Black._ Juliet couldn't help but smile. _Ok, thanks._

The door opened and Sawyer stepped out. He still had on his scruffy long sleeve plaid shirt which looked funny with the nice dress pants.

"I look ridiculous," he said.

"Don't be silly, those look great."

"These are the only ones that fit out of the three."

"Okay," she said, standing up. "Do you like them?"

His sarcastic look made her laugh out loud. "Got it. Do you want to try on more or just go with these?"

"I'll do whatever you tell me to."

"If these fit…" she trailed off.

"It's settled then," he said, walking back into the dressing room.

When he came back out, he had the pants draped over his arm. He went up to the counter to pay for them and came back.

"Alright, are we done?"

"Do you have a vest, shirt and jacket to go with it?"

"Do I really need a vest?"

"We'll see," she said with a smile.

She led the way out of the store to start the hunt for the shirt. They were walking along, talking about English class when Sawyer started with, "Hey, there's Jin and Sun."

Juliet's inner flight mechanism sprang and she wanted to turn the other way. "Yeah, let's go in here."

"Why? You don't want to go talk to them?"

Juliet shook her head, but it was too late, Sun had seen them and was walking over.

"Hey Sawyer, Juliet," she said with a smile. "Is Jack or Kate here?"

"No," Juliet started, "I'm helping Sawyer shop for prom stuff."

"I see," Sun said archly.

"What are you guys doing?" Juliet asked.

"Shopping," Jin said with a frown.

Sun said something in Korean and Jin waved. "We'll see you guys later," she said as they walked away.

"Man," Juliet whispered as they left.

"What's wrong, Blondie? Korean got your tongue?"

"She already hates me for some reason. Now she'll go and tell Jack we were hanging out."

"And why wouldn't you want Jack to know we were hanging out?" Sawyer said, leaning a little closer to Juliet.

"It doesn't matter, Sawyer."

"Yeah, Juliet, I actually think it does." He grabbed her arm and looked into her eyes.

"Why are you going with Kate?" she asked suddenly. "What made you ask her?"

Sawyer's eyes softened. "The same thing that made you say yes to Jack."

Juliet arched her eyebrow and pulled away from his grasp. "I just don't want to make Jack mad, okay? Let's go find you a shirt and jacket."

"Don't worry, Juliet, I've got your back."


	45. Follow the Ladder

The week before prom creeped along for everyone. Jack was anxious about Charlie, who had been suspended and put on suicide watch. Kate was concerned about Jack and a little nervous about going with Sawyer. Juliet was confused about what had happened between Sawyer and her and also wondering if Sun ever said anything to Jack. Sun was glad to be going with Jin and wondering if she should say anything to Jack. Hurley was nervous about going with Libby. Sayid and Shannon were excited while Boone was annoyed. Sawyer was just glad his grades were good enough to go.

Even the teachers were on edge, because the students wouldn't listen. Alpert finally gave up on Friday and let them do a connect the dots worksheet.

"Listen, I know it's childish, but you're all acting like children today. Just work on your paper and don't get too loud or you fail."

Everyone started happily goofing off, while Jack stared at where Claire and Charlie should have been sitting.

"Jack," he said a few times before Jack snapped to.

"Sorry Mr. Alpert," he said, drawing his attention back to his sheet.

He crossed his arms and shook his head, "I don't care about the paper; I'm just seeing if everything is okay?"

"Yeah, sure it is."

"You know, Jack," he started, "If you're upset about Charlie you can talk about it."

He forced a smile up at Richard, "No, I'm fine."

Jack turned back to his paper and connected two dots wondering what a _Black Rock _was. He stared at the dots until he realized it was a sailing ship. Mr. Alpert was so weird.

After class Jack was walking to English and ran into Shannon and Boone in the hallway having an argument. Loudly.

"Jack," Boone called, "Tell Shannon she's being an idiot."

"What's the problem, guys?"

"Boone wants me to help decorate for prom. I have better things to do, like get ready."

"After school, or when?"

"Yeah, today."

"I'll help you," Jack said, "In the gym, right?"

Boone smiled, "Thanks, Jack."

As Jack walked away he heard Boone say, "See? Jack's got school spirit."

The rest of the day was finally over and Jack headed towards the gym to help decorate. He took his time, wondering what made him actually say yes in the first place. When he got to the door, a crowd had gathered around someone on the ground. Jack tossed his backpack to the floor and rushed over to the scene. On the floor was Boone, clutching his leg.

"What happened?" he asked, kneeling next to him.

"I fell off a ladder."

Jack took one look at the leg and knew it was going to have to be set by a doctor. Jack looked up at Sun who was standing next to him, "Go call an ambulance; he needs to go to the hospital."

Boone was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Stay with me Boone. Don't go to sleep. Tell me exactly what happened, okay?"

"I was on the ladder, trying to reach the, the…"

"Boone, come on, what were you trying to reach? Tell me."

"The top of the streamers for the rafter."

Jack knew there was nothing he could do. He made sure Boone didn't move the leg until the medics got there. When they carried him out, Jack walked over to the ladder and looked at the place where he was trying to reach.

"I thought he could make it," a voice said next to him.

Jack turned to see Locke. "You what?"

"I was the one who asked him hang those streamers up there. He fell and it was my fault."

Jack shook his head, unsure of what to say. He was on the point of yelling.

"He could have died."

"Don't be so dramatic, Jack." Locke said. "It was all an accident."

"No, Locke, maybe it was fate."

In pure anger, Jack turned and left the gym. He was too upset with Locke to think about staying and helping with prom.


	46. There's No Place Like Prom Pt 1

Jack pulled up to Juliet's house and walked up to the front door. She looked beautiful in her blue dress with her hair pulled up. After all the pictures were taken, he led her down to the car. When they were both inside, Juliet put her hand on his.

"Listen," she started. "I'm not being fair to you. And you're not being fair to yourself."

"About what?"

"Come on, Jack. Don't lie yourself anymore. I just wanted to say, thanks for asking me to go with you. I'm glad I get to."

He nodded before he started the car. "Thanks."

When they pulled out of the neighborhood, he asked. "Did you really go shopping with Sawyer?"

"Did Sun tell you?"

He shook his head.

"Sawyer?"

He shook his head again. "Jin."

Juliet stared at him for a few seconds as it registered. She hadn't even known Jin could speak English.

"You ready?" he asked, when they got to the school.

"I was born ready, Shephard."

Jack laughed as he held out the crook of his arm and they walked up to the school together.

The inside of the gym was decked out with blue and silver balloons and streamers, the colors of the high school. Jack stood by the entryway with Juliet next to him and thought it looked good, despite the anger he felt over everything the day before. He wondered how Boone was doing and what happened with Locke and Jacob. He pushed it out of his mind for the time being and tried to make himself have fun. They made their way into the room where the rock music was playing and everyone was moving to the music.

Dr. Linus stood with Mr. Alpert over by the drinks. Richard looked like he always did, and Ben was dressed in a suit jacket which made him look even more like a professor. He was one of the most unexcited members of the faculty. Every year he was asked by Jacob to help oversee the prom and every year he found himself unable to say no even though he loathed this part of his job more than anything else.

Desmond had come at the request of Widmore, but he was allowed to bring Penny to help chaperone. So far, they hadn't had to do anything but stand by the drink bowl to make sure no one tried to slip anything in it. The party was so dead, Desmond questioned if he would really try to stop anyone from livening it up.

"They probably should have picked a better chaperone," he said.

Penny laughed, "I think you're doing a great job, Des."

"There's not much of a job to do, really. Just stand here and make sure no one's having a good time."

She laughed again and moved closer to him, hugging him around the waist.

The DJ came on the speakers and said that they would be going retro. They had been playing things like Geronimo Jackson all night and when the song started the kids made a half groan-half cheer at the Mama's and the Papa's. Desmond threw back his drink and grimaced, "I hate this song." He whispered to Penny.

_Nobody can tell ya, there's only one song worth singing_.

Kate shrugged and moved over to Jack, taking his hands as the music played loud in their ears. She pushed and pulled his hands trying to get him to dance. He moved awkwardly with her, laughing and hoping he didn't look too ridiculous.

"Come on, Sawyer," Juliet was standing to the side and motioned for Sawyer to join her.

"I don't dance," he said stiffly.

"Nonsense. You're at a dance, so you have to dance," she insisted.

_Make your own kind music, sing your own special song. Make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along._

Juliet managed to push Sawyer closer to the group of kids dancing on the floor. Relenting, Sawyer made a show of his awkwardness, shaking his jazz hands to the beat with a goofy grin, sending Juliet into a fit of laughter.

When the song ended, they moved over to one end of the room together and stood there awkwardly. Faraday walked up with Charlotte.

"Hey, Jack." He said with a smile.

"Faraday." He nodded to them both, "Hey Charlotte."

She smiled, but said nothing.

Everyone looked to everyone else to see what they were supposed to be doing. The music started up again and it was so loud, no one could really hear each other talking. Hurley and Libby joined them. While Hurley was yelling his introduction, Jack just wanted to go outside and get some fresh air. He whispered to Juliet that he would be right back and turned to leave.


	47. There's No Place Like Prom Pt 2

Jack walked outside into the cool night air. He stuck his hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky.

"Hey," Kate said next to him.

He turned to look at her. She looked beautiful in the dim lights from the outside of the school. She was wearing a short black dress that made her legs look ten miles high. Her wavy hair hung around her shoulders. She walked up next to Jack and leaned against the railing of the steps.

"Feels good out here," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah, it was getting pretty hot in the gym." Jack looked back at the stars.

"What are you doing out here, Jack?" she asked.

"Just wanted air to breathe."

"Right," Kate said, looking up at the stars with him.

"It seems so cliché, doesn't it?"

Jack looked at Kate this time, "What does?"

"Us, stuck here in this place, waiting to get on with our lives. Graduation is like two months away. And then after that? It's all over."

He turned to look at her. How could it be that he only knew her for a few months? It already felt like a lifetime.

"It's not all over," he said softly, "Maybe it's all just beginning."

"Easy for you to say," she turned to look at him, "You get to go to college."

Jack didn't say anything, but watched her face force a smile.

"You should be so excited, Jack. It's what you've always dreamed of. You'll get to save lives and fix people."

He kept staring at her, wondering if this was what it felt like to have two people who completely understood everything about the other. Two people who, maybe, were meant to be together.

Kate whispered her last words and her eyes trailed across Jack's face.

Suddenly, she moved her mouth onto his. They kissed under the stars and Jack realized then, they fit together like pieces of a puzzle. He gripped her shoulders as she leaned first into him and then suddenly pulled away.

"What?" she whispered.

Jack shook his head, wondering if he had made a mistake, "You mean, you didn't…"

Kate looked up at him, confused and hurt, "I don't know,"

"What's going on out here?" Desmond asked as he walked up.

Jack and Kate immediately stepped away from each other. Jack pushed past Desmond and went inside. Stepping closer, Desmond put his hand on Kate's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking closely at her face.

She nodded as she sniffled, "Yeah, it's fine, we just…" she flipped back a thick section of her curls, "we just had a fight."

Desmond leaned against the rail where Jack had just left, "Ah, I see."

"We're just so different. He's going to be a doctor, for God's sake, and I'm…well…"

"You're what, Kate?" Desmond turned to look at her.

"Never mind. I'm sorry, Mr. Hume, I shouldn't bother you with this."

She turned to walk away, her heels clicking on the concrete but Desmond said something that stopped her.

"You know, the best place to hide is in Sydney."

"What?" she said.

"To hide,"

He turned to her with a smile that made her unsure of what exactly she would be hiding from.

"To hide from what?"

He shrugged as he looked up at the stars, "You never know. I just assumed from hearing what you were talking about not being good enough and not knowing who you are, the best place to find yourself is in the middle of nowhere."

"I don't have to money to go to Sydney," she said sarcastically.

Desmond smiled again and nodded, "It's just a thought, mate. If you ever needed a place to hide."

"Right," she said with a strange look as she made her way back into the school.

Back inside, everyone was slow dancing. Kate smiled as she saw Hurley awkwardly trying not to step on Libby's toes. Sayid and Shannon were walking off of the dance floor holding hands and Kate wondered how long they had been dating. Then her eyes fell on Sawyer. He was standing awkwardly on the edge of the room, watching Juliet. As much as it hurt her to see them together, he knew that what Sawyer felt for Juliet was different. Sawyer had only asked Kate to make Jack jealous.

She walked over to Sawyer.

"You want to dance?"

"Not right now. But you go ahead."

"It's a two man job, Freckles, I'd look kinda silly slow dancing by myself."

Kate smiled, "I meant ask someone else."

"Is that allowed?"

She gave him a look, "I don't think there are rules. I'm going to get something to drink."

As she walked away, she knew he was going to go ask Juliet. She wondered where Jack had run off too. She didn't know what was going on there. How could they have known each other so little but feel like they knew everything about each other?


	48. The Other 48 Chapters

A/N: I can't believe it! The story is finally finished. I'm so sad to be over with it because it was so much fun writing. I am kind of glad though to be "moving on" to other stories, pun intended. Thank you for all the nice reviews and I hope you liked the story as much I as I do!

The Monday after prom, Jack entered his first hour and sat in his desk. His plan had become to ignore everyone around him until graduation and get out of there as soon as he could. His dad had asked him to come by his office after school which meant he had found some other way to disapprove of something he had done. He could never do enough to please his dad. And Jack didn't want to acknowledge how much that bothered him.

"You alright there, Captain?" Sawyer asked from the seat over.

"What? Yeah," Jack said in reply. "Why?"

"Just look like something's bothering you."

Jack looked at Sawyer and wondered what his ulterior motive could be. He knew it had to be something.

Jack shook his head, "Just one of those days I guess."

"Yeah but it just started."

Jack laughed lightly, "That's true. My old man, he always the only good thing about a Monday is it only comes once a week."

"My old man's dead." Sawyer said bluntly.

Jack looked at him, unsure if it was the truth, or just another sarcastic comment.

"Sorry," he said, still unsure.

"Don't be." He said resentfully.

Jack nodded and faced forward thinking maybe him and Sawyer weren't so different after all. Kate walked up and smiled at both of them before sitting down in her regular spot. The class crept by as all three of them actually tried to focus on the lecture.

After prom there were only two weeks before graduation and all the kids were on edge to hurry up and get things over with. Locke made the kids run a few extra laps before calling it a day. Basketball practice had ended for the season so he was able to leave earlier than normal. He moved back to his office to get his jacket and briefcase before heading out to his car.

John jiggled the keys in his hands and looked into the parking lot to find his old red VW bug. He moved his handbag from one side to the other. Just as he began walking on the tar, he heard the screeching sound of tires. He turned to his left, but couldn't move fast enough to get out of the way of a car that was zooming towards him. He tried to run, but in seconds the car slammed into his hip.

He felt his body fly off the ground and land in a heap before everything faded into darkness.

Desmond killed the car and ran over towards the limp body.

"Hey!" he screamed, "Are you alive!"

Pulling out his phone, he started to call 911.

"What happened?" Ben asked as he ran up to him.

"I reached down to pick something up and didn't even see him. It was an accident."

"Mr. Locke!" Linus yelled, "Mr. Locke, can you hear me?"

The ambulance came quickly and they loaded Locke onto a gurney, trying not to move him.

"Are you family?" one of the paramedics asked.

"No, I caused the accident."

"Come on then, police may want to talk to you."

Desmond hopped into the back of the ambulance and watched as they began hooking up tubes into Locke's arms.

"Where are you taking him?" Ben asked the men as they moved into the ambulance.

"Saint Sebastian."

As the ambulance took off, Ben looked on in complete confusion and shock mixed strangely with almost a little guilt…

Jack looked out of the window of his father's office down at the streets below where cars passed back and forth going about their own business. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't tune out his father's voice.

"It's the chance for you to study in a real situation with real doctors. I've been to Sydney before, it's beautiful."

"I just want time to think about it," Jack insisted.

"Jack," Christian said as he slid his hands into his lab coat, "It's time for you to start taking control of your life. Go home and we'll talk about it later."

Jack ruffled his hands through his hair and stepped back.

"Go home now," Christian ordered as he looked at his pager, "I've got an emergency, Jack. I'll talk to you later."

As his dad walked away, Jack began moving down the hallway towards the exit. After all the years his father had worked at Saint Sebastian he knew the layout backwards and forwards. He knew he could take a short cut through the admissions of emergency. As he made his way into the hectic room, he watched a gurney being wheeled in. Strapped in it, was John Locke.

Jack stopped dead in his tracks, looking at the bloody face of his coach. One of the men bumped into him and grabbed his shoulders to keep from falling over.

"Excuse me, brother."

Jack looked up to see Desmond Hume holding on.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked.

"I could ask the same about you," Desmond said.

"What happened to Locke?" Jack asked suddenly. He looked back into the hallway and saw his dad rushing to the rescue.

"There was an accident," Desmond called before moving through the doors.

Confused, Jack slowly walked towards the exit. What had happened to Locke?


	49. Through the Classroom Glass

At school, news spread fast the next day about the teacher that had been run over by another teacher. By his second hour, though, Jack realized that wasn't the biggest news story of the day. The biggest story was Charlie was back.

When Jack walked into Math, he saw Charlie sitting at his desk, staring at his notebook. All the other kids looked at him like he had some kind of disease. Making a point to the others, Jack walked over and knelt by his desk.

"Charlie," he said with a smile, "it's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back."

Jack nodded and stood to move to his desk, but a hand reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Jack," Charlie started, "Thanks."

Jack smiled his little smile again with a quick nod before moving over to his seat. They were taking a test, so Charlie had to sit doing nothing while the others took the test. He had been doing his make-up work while he was gone, but he still wasn't quite caught up. With two weeks left in school, he knew he wasn't going to have that much time to catch up. He found himself drawing little pictures on his notebook.

He missed Claire.

He had tried to call her a few times, but he imagined she heard what had happened and didn't want anything to do with him. He didn't blame her. He just wanted her to know that everything was going to be okay.

When the bell rang, he snapped out of his day dreaming and headed towards Biology. He had heard that Hume hit Locke with his car. That seemed really bizarre. Desmond made a big show out of Charlie being back and had the students clap for him when he got in. They were watching a movie and Charlie was able to focus long enough to take a few more notes.

After class, Desmond called at Charlie as he was leaving.

"Would you be able to come see me after school, Charlie? I had something I wanted to talk with you about."

"Sure," he said as he grabbed his backpack and left.

Everyone made sure to smile and be nice to him at lunch and even Sawyer stooped enough to call him Charlie when he said 'welcome back'. When school was over, he made his way to Desmond's class. Desmond was gone and a blonde woman was sitting at his desk.

"Oh, hi," Charlie said, confused.

"Are you Charlie?" she asked.

"I am…"

"I'm Penny. I'm Desmond's.—I'm with Des," she said with a smile. "He told me to tell you that he had to go talk to someone and that he would be right back."

She stood up and grabbed her purse. "Well, it was good to meet you, Charlie. Des has told me so many great things about you."

"Thanks. Nice to meet you too."

She gave him a big smile and walked out of the door. Charlie slid into one of the desks and glanced up at the clock. Only when he looked at his desk did he realize Penny had left her coat on the chair. He got up and brought it over to his desk to remind himself to make sure Desmond took it. After a few minutes, Desmond walked into the class room.

"Sorry about that Charlie, I got caught up. Did Penny leave?"

"Yeah, she told me to wait here."

"Okay," he said as he sat on the edge of the desk.

"What was it you wanted to see me about?"

"Well, I just wanted to talk a little, Charlie. You know, ask how things were going as you settled back in?"

"Things are fine." He said with a nod.

"You know," he started, crossing his arms, "It's okay for things to not be fine."

"Really," Charlie insisted, "Things are more fine than they've ever been."

Desmond nodded. "Well, I hope you're not still preparing for that audition for Drive Shaft."

"I know, Mr. Hume. I'm sorry. I let you down."

"It only matters, Charlie, when you let yourself down. You're stronger than you think you are. That's why, I've talked to my friend and they've agreed to let you in on the tour. You're leaving in a few weeks. You better pack your bags for Australia."

"Are you kidding me?" Charlie cried. "This is fantastic."

He jumped out of the desk and grabbed his backpack excitedly.

"This is so great. Thanks, Mr. Hume. I'll make you and myself proud. Thanks again."

He rushed out of the room and was halfway down the hall before he remembered what he was going to tell Desmond. He rushed back as quick as he could and beat on the glass window.

"That's Penny's coat!" he said loudly, pointing.

Desmond leaned forward and followed his finger to the coat on the desk.

"Penny's coat!" he yelled again.

Desmond nodded and gave him a thumbs up before Charlie took off again. He was going to have to get some new clothes.


	50. Happily Ever After Graduation Pt 1

Graduation finally arrived for the Oceanic class of 2004. Jack stood in front of the mirror, tying his tie three times before letting it fall against his chest. Kate adjusted her black robe for the final time, not believing she had made it this far. Sawyer buttoned the nice shirt he had bought at the mall with Juliet.

At the Performing Arts Center, Jacob arranged the fake diplomas they give the kids. Desmond moved chairs around as Hawking stood, looking on, wondering what the evening would hold.

As the students began to arrive, they all tried to find each other, though they had to line up by last name. Juliet found herself in the same group as Kate.

"Hey," she said with a smile.

"Hey," Kate said, tapping her high heeled sandal on the tile.

"So, I know we've had our differences, but I just wanted to say that I'm glad I got to know you. And I wish you the best."

"Thanks," Kate said, "You too."

"He's in love with you ya know."

"What?" Kate asked, surprised.

"Jack." She said with a smile, "Don't act like you don't already know it."

Kate stared after her, unsure of what to say to that.

"Sorry," Juliet started, "I guess I'm just one of those people that need closure. Anyways, congrats and good luck."

"You too."

Juliet flashed another smile before moving off. It wasn't long before the procession began and the students had to go inside. As Kate sat in the crowd of kids she barely knew, she looked around the auditorium for her mother, knowing she probably wouldn't see her.

Hurley crept into the auditorium and realized he had gotten there late. It wasn't his fault he had gotten stuck in traffic. Desmond appeared from the side and pointed in the darkness.

"There's a seat over there," he said quietly.

Hurley took a program from him and moved quickly to the seat. When he sat down he realized he was sitting next to Libby.

"Hey," she said quietly with a smile.

"Hey," he replied.

From his seat, Jack could see his parents sitting in the second row. As valedictorian, he was nervous about making his speech. He had tried for weeks and weeks to write something, but nothing ever came out good enough.

He listened as he heard Jacob announce his name. Forcing himself, he stood up to go the podium. The kids behind him burst into cheers and he thought he heard a stray cat call. Smiling he looked into the audience in front of him.

"For weeks, I've been trying to write a speech, but I couldn't. I wanted something that would be memorable with a funny story or even a joke, but nothing sounded right. And then I realized it didn't matter because years from now no one will remember the speaker, the jokes, or even the after parties. They'll remember the memories we made on a day to day basis and the friendships we formed over hours of studying together.

"I've come to learn that I'm not good at letting go. But I hope with all of my friends here tonight we realize we're not just letting go, we're pushing forward. Pushing forward to new memories and friendships. Thank you."

He returned to his seat and imagined it was probably one of the shortest speeches a valedictorian had given. The class president spoke next and read _Oh the Places You'll Go_. Jack looked through the crowd of fellow students and caught the eye of Kate watching him. She smiled and nodded in approval. Turning back to the crowd, he saw his dad was gone. He scanned the audience for him, but didn't see him.

One by one, Jacob called their names and they marched forward to shake his hand and take a picture. When the ceremony was finally over, they left to the sounds of Pomp and Circumstance.

Libby bent over to get her purse before standing up. Hurley stood up too and tapped the program against his hand.

"So, you want to go get ice cream or something?" Libby asked.

"Really?" Hurley said, surprised.

"Well, sure, why not?"

"You've got to be crazy to want to be with someone like me." Hurley said before he meant to.

"Hurley," she said as she stopped walking. "I want to be with you because I like you."

Hurley stopped and stared at her too, wondering what to say.

She leaned up and kissed him on the lips. As she did, Hurley saw himself talking with Libby in the jungle. He remembered her smile, her encouragement, he remembered everything.

"Whoa," he said, stepping back. "Dude."

"What?" she asked, alarmed.

"I think…" he looked at her, "we've done this before."

"You remember?" Libby choked out.

"Yeah, I remember."

Libby laughed lightly and kissed him again, making up for lost time. As they walked into the hall, they passed Sun, watching them. Smiling to herself, she walked towards the door.

"Better hurry," someone said next to her, "It's pouring out there."

Sun turned to see the teacher that had hit Locke with his car. He smiled as he handed her an umbrella.

"Thank you," she said with a forced smile as she opened it.

Sun rushed out of the PAC into the rain. She hurried to her car and pulled out her keys to get in quickly. She saw someone walking the other way and realized it was Jin.

"Jin!" she cried.

He turned and hurried over to her. He greeted her in Korean. She moved forward to say hi when she slipped on the wet ground and fell. Jin hurried to grab her hands to pull her up.

When he did, he was struck with a memory of having done that before. When he looked at Sun, he knew she remembered also. He saw their rough start, his return from the raft, leaving Sun on the helicopter, and learning about Ji Yeon. He remembered the last time they held hands on the sinking submarine.

"Sun," he said, raising a hand to her face. "I love you."

"I know," she said with tears in her eyes, knowing it was more true than anything else in the world.

Desmond smiled from the door way and moved back into the hallway, heading the opposite direction. As he did, he saw Jack in front of him. Jack walked down the hall and was stopped by several kids who were giving him a slap on the back and words of congrats. He smiled and said thanks. When he moved away from Sayid, he noticed Kate was standing there waiting.

"Congratulations, Jack," she said with a smile.

"You too," he said, looking down at her.

"Well," she said after a few moments, "I guess this is goodbye?"

His mouth grew into a thin line as he nodded, "Yeah."

She stepped closer to him, "Tell me I'm going to see you again."

He shook his head slightly, "Goodbye, Kate."

Tears in her eyes, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled his face to hers. Jack pulled her as tight as he could, never wanting to let go.

"I'll miss you," she whispered in his ear.

"I'll miss you too."

She pulled away with tears running down her cheeks and tried to smile. Kate pushed herself to walk away from Jack knowing if she didn't now, she never would. She wiped her eyes quickly and kept walking. It was more than just a high school crush, it seemed so much deeper. She switched her robe to her other arm and kept going, pushing against the clumps of people wishing congratulations and taking pictures.

Kate lifted a stray curl away from her face and squinted her eyes at a little pregnant blonde girl who was grabbing her stomach and leaning against a door.

"Claire?" Kate said absentmindedly as she watched the girl push the door open and walk inside. Hurrying after her, Kate's heels clicked on the floor as she made her way down the open walkway and to the door. Pushing it open, she looked for any sign of Claire.

"Claire?" She called again as she walked down the dimly lit hall. Suddenly she came to a lounge room and saw Claire sitting one of the couches, bent over as much as she could.

"Oh god, Claire, are you alright? What are you doing here?"

"Kate!" she said through a wince, "I think the baby's coming. I don't know what to do."

Realization sunk in and Kate tried to calm down. She knew if she was freaking out, Claire would too. Kate reached back to pull her curls into a pony tail. Pulling her hair tie around the thick hair, she looked into Claire's eyes and told her that everything was going to be alright.

"Okay, I'm going to go get help. You stay here. Help!" she screamed as she began walking away.

"No, Kate, the baby's coming, like, right now."

"Alright." Kate said, again remaining calm. "We're going to be okay. Okay?"

The door opened again and an accented voice rang out, "Hello? Was someone screaming?"

"Back here!" Kate yelled, relieved to have help.

When the man appeared from the hall, Claire gasped "Charlie?"

"Claire!" he said, rushing to her side. "What's wrong?"

"She's having a baby. Right now. Go get help."

"Right, help."

Charlie paused only a second to look at Claire's beautiful face before rushing back where he came from.

"Okay," Kate repeated, "I think you're supposed to push. Ready?"

Claire nodded, the fear frozen onto her face.

"Now. PUSH!"

Claire's face wrinkled in pain as she gripped the couch around her. Kate watched her face and for a second had a strange premonition of déjà vu. Suddenly in a flash of memory, Kate saw herself helping Claire have her baby like she had before. On an island. The island.

Exhaling suddenly, she realized Claire was staring at her. Pain still etched into her features.

Shaking it off, she instructed Claire to push again. "PUSH!"

The flash was stronger this time as she remembered everything, as though her life was unfolding before her. The crash, the handcuffs, the others, helping Claire. And Jack. Tears flooded her face as Claire pushed again.

"I can see the baby," she said with a smile of understanding. "Okay, one more time."

Claire pushed again and Kate found herself holding a little baby boy. Laughing a mixture of tears and happiness, she held the baby up for Claire to see.

The minute Claire saw the baby, her eyes seemed to glaze over and Kate realized she was seeing the same type of vision she had just seen.

"It's Aaron," she said as she began crying, "Oh, Aaron."

Kate's tears kept flowing as she watched her being reunited with her baby. The door opened behind them and Kate tried to stop crying as she heard someone approaching.

"I brought Desmond. He's the only one I could find," Charlie's words drifted off as he saw the little baby in Claire's arms.

He moved closer and bent down to see him. Claire reached out slowly and took his hand. As soon as she did, Charlie's eyes filled with tears as though seeing Claire for the first time. He saw everything he had ever done on the island and knew he was finally where he was supposed to be.

"Aaron," he said between choked breaths. Charlie's fingers reached out to stroke the newborn's head.

Charlie looked back down at Claire and kissed her quickly. Claire was shaking with happy tears.

Kate had moved to the couch and looked over at Desmond. His smile made her realize he knew everything all the way back to the hatch.

"So," Desmond said looking back at her, "Are you ready to take that trip?"

"Where do we go?"

"Home."


	51. Happily Ever After Graduation Pt 2

Sayid walked in the darkness towards his car with his robe draped over his arm. At least it had stopped raining, he thought. It had taken him a while to get away from all the people wanting to take pictures and then find his phone which had fallen from his pocket before they went on stage. Strange enough, his phone had been with Jacob and only found it after Desmond had told him that Jacob was looking for him. He heard some strange noises from a few cars over.

"Hey! Leave my brother alone!" the voice cried.

Sayid realized it was a fight and rushed over to see what the problem was. He saw a guy attacking Shannon and Boone. Just as the guy knocked Shannon to the ground, he rushed over and punched him as hard as he could in his face. The guy stumbled back and ran away.

Sayid turned back to Shannon and reached down a hand to help her up. As she stood up, Sayid realized exactly who she was. He saw her leaning over to help him translate the French on Rousseau's map. He saw her in the glow of the fire. And he saw when she had died.

"Sayid," she said with an "I told you so" kind of smirk on her face.

"Shannon," he said quietly as he pulled her to him.

Boone was dusting his pants off as he walked over to a silver car. "Took him long enough."

Desmond stuck his arm on the window. "But it was worth it."

"Do you want me to go get them?" he asked, wiping the blood off his chin.

"We can give them a few minutes."

Boone nodded with a smile, "We've got all the time in the world."

Desmond smiled back as his eyes fell on Jack making his way towards his car. Jack opened his car and got in. His mother had told him his dad had an emergency at the hospital and had to leave. He would stop by the hospital to say good bye to his dad. His flight to Australia was an early one and he might not get the chance to say good bye otherwise. As he drove to the hospital, he had too many things on his mind. His kiss with Kate for one.

He pulled himself up the flights of stairs to his father's office. The door was locked. He asked the woman at the desk if he had been there, but she said he hadn't. He wandered down the hall for a little bit before he realized he was on the floor where coach was still at. He reasoned it would only be fair to stop by and say hi since he was so close.

Jack walked into the room hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see Locke in that kind of condition.

"Jack," he said with a smile.

"Hey, Locke."

"What are you doing up here?"

"I stopped to see my dad and wanted to make sure you were okay. My dad was your surgeon, I think."

"Oh," he said, still in a daze.

"I'm sorry about the accident. That was awful."

"That's my path, though."

"What?" Jack asked, intrigued.

"Our paths. We each have a path that we're on and they all take us where we're supposed to go."

"Do you really believe that, Mr. Locke?"

"Of course I do, Jack."

"My dad, he said that he couldn't fix the spinal damage. Is that true?"

"That's what he told me."

"That means you can't walk again, Locke. A basketball coach that can't walk. Is that destiny?"

Locke looked right at Jack, "I know you may not realize it, Jack, but some things can't be fixed because they aren't broken."

"What does that mean?"

His eyes shifted to his foot poking at the sheet. He let out a little breath of surprise as his toes moved under the sheet. Jack stepped forward and looked down at his foot. It was definitely moving.

In a swirl of memory and reality, Locke saw himself in the same position, moving his foot ever so slowly. He saw the rain, Boone, the hatch. He saw the only path in life that had ever really mattered. He saw everything about the island and the truth it held.

"Did you see that?" Locke asked out loud.

Jack looked down at him wondering if he had gone crazy. Suddenly, Jack felt like he remembered a time he looked down a huge hole with Locke standing next to him. Shaking the fake memory off, Jack stepped back.

Locke's entire face had changed. His smile was as though he was seeing Jack for the first time.

"I need to go," Jack said suddenly, a little worried about what was happening. "I need to go pack for Australia."

"You're not going to Australia."

Jack was stepping away slowly when he stopped, "What?"

"You're not going to Australia, Jack."

Jack was starting to feel a little creeped out. Chalking it up to the medication, Jack hurried out of Locke's room and to the elevator. He had a lot to do before he left the country the next day. He was already worried about what was going to happen once he got to Australia. Locke was wrong; he was going to Sydney and he wasn't going to get the chance to say good bye before he did.

As he hurried to his car, Jack saw a message from Juliet reminding him about her graduation party. He quickly replied he couldn't make it and shoved the phone in his pocket.

At the party, Juliet stood by the food table, watching the door absent mindedly. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, but she couldn't help waiting to see if a certain someone was going to come. She picked up a cup and was in the process of getting something to drink when she heard someone clear his throat. Looking up, she saw Sawyer leaning against the edge of the opening from the front room, holding a large yellow flower.

"I'm so sorry, this flower is a little overdue."

As she took it, she felt a jolt pass through her. Like a faded memory, she saw a time where Sawyer had offered her a sunflower before. His face changed and she knew he had seen it too. He stepped closer to her, seeing her as Juliet. His Juliet.

She burst into tears when she remembered the life they had shared together for over three years. After all this time, they were finally together again and they were allowed to be happy.

"Kiss me, James." She said through her tears.

"You got it, Blondie."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her to make up for all the time he had lost. When he pulled away, he stroked her hair and held her close.

"I got you baby. I've got you."

He could feel her shaking with tears against his chest and Sawyer knew this time, he wouldn't have to let go.


	52. The End

"Now boarding Oceanic flight 815…"

Jack listened to the call over the intercom before picking up his bag to head towards the terminal. As he walked, he saw Hurley rushing in front of him to get on the plane. _Why is Hurley going to Australia?_ He wondered.

Jack continued his slow walk towards the terminal where he saw people shuffling past the boarding gate at through the little tunnel. He saw a couple of kids that looked like Boone and Shannon and smiled. He wondered what all the guys he graduated with were going to do. He approached the gate and saw a girl standing there, watching him. It took him a few minutes to realize it was Kate.

He stopped a few feet in front of her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I've missed you so much." She said.

"We just saw each other at graduation."

She shook her head and closed the gap between them. "I just…"

Before he knew what she was doing, she reached up with both hands and kissed him. When her lips touched his, Jack's mind spun as he saw them kissing before. Not at prom, not after graduation, but on an island, in the _jungle. _It was the same feeling he had when he saw himself with Locke. He realized they were also in a jungle.

He pulled away and raised his hands, "What is going on?"

Kate bit her lip, "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

Kate looked past Jack and shook her head, "I'll see you on the plane."

Jack watched her turn to leave before realizing she had been watching someone behind him. Turning, he saw Christian standing in front of him.

"Dad?"

"Hey kiddo."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to say goodbye." Christian held out his arms. "And tell you how proud I really am of you."

Confused, and feeling like something was wrong, Jack moved into his father's embrace. Those were the words he had waited a lifetime to hear. As soon as he did, his mind flashed back like it had before. He saw himself jumping over wreckage, helping Claire and Rose, watching Boone die, fighting with Locke and Sawyer. Most of all though, he saw Kate, his Kate, as they kissed in the jungle, fought in LA and told each other goodbye. He saw his life on the island and the people he came to know and those he had lost. He understood the meaning of Jacob's job and the realization of what his destiny really was. Finally, he remembered it all.

Exhaling, he stepped away from his father's arm.

"I don't understand. You," he paused, "you died?"

Christian smiled. "Yes, I did."

"But," he connected the thoughts, "I died too."

Christian nodded.

Jack couldn't stop the tears from coming as he recalled the life he had before and all the people it contained.

"Where are we dad? Am I going back?"

"No," Christian said, stepping closer. "You needed to be together to help one another let go and move on."

"On the plane? Where is it going?"

"Why don't you go find out?"

Jack rushed forward and gave his dad another hug, "I love you, dad."

His dad wrapped his arms around him. By this point, both of them were crying realizing that last time they hadn't had a chance to say good bye. "I love you too, son."

Pulling away, Jack began walking towards the terminal. The flight attendant was waiting with a smile on her face. Jack pulled out a ticket and held it to her. She scanned it and handed it back. Turning one last time, Jack saw his dad standing there with a smile and raised hand. Jack waved once before walking onto the plane.

Lapidus was standing by the cockpit with a smile on his face as he entered.

"We've been waiting for ya," he said with a smile as he moved his hand toward the aisle.

Jack laughed as he walked through the aisle. He passed Sayid and Shannon who smiled at him. Hurley was sitting next to Libby, but he jumped up and reached out to hug him as he passed. Sun and Jin were sitting down as he walked and they smiled. Continuing his walk, he nodded to Desmond, sitting next to Penny. Turning to his right, he moved by Charlie who was craned over Claire to look at little baby Aaron. Moving down the aisle, he stopped when Locke caught his eye and reached up with a hand. They shook quickly before Jack kept moving. Sawyer and Juliet gave him a quick smile before he reached his seat. It was right next to Kate.

She reached out and took his hand as he sat down next to the window. Everyone had their window covers pulled up. He buckled his seat belt as the plane began to move backwards down the runway. There was laughter and talk among all the passengers, but also a nervous excitement of what was to come.

Jack remembered those last few moments on the island, looking up into the sky and seeing the plane fly above him.

The engine roared to life under them and the plane began accelerating down the runway. There was a jolt of gravity as the plane lifted into the air. Looking down, the city below him began shrinking as they began to fly over the water. Jack settled into his seat and saw the sun flood the cabin of the plane. Everyone began looking at the sheer brightness of the light in awe. Kate's grip tightened on Jack's as she leaned into him. Feeling the sunshine on his face and the roar of the engines below them, Jack's eyes slowly closed.

LOST


End file.
